Palestinians concerned with unemployment, says visiting U.S. bishop

Published: 2006-01-16

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Palestinian Christians are concerned with high unemployment and its effects on the younger generation, said Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Of some 400 families in Holy Family Parish in Ramallah, West Bank, 125 are facing a daily struggle because of unemployment, Bishop Skylstad said after visiting the parish Jan. 15. "It is difficult for young people to even think of marriage," he said in an interview with Catholic News Service Jan. 16. "There is a real concern about immigration of young people from the country." Bishop Skylstad, of Spokane, Wash., was in Jerusalem participating in the Episcopal Conference Coordination in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land Jan. 14-19. He said he hoped he and Msgr. William P. Fay, USCCB general secretary, who accompanied him on the visit to Ramallah, were able to convey a sense of solidarity with the people and let them know they are with them "in prayer, support and advocacy and that signs of hope can be seen as we look to the future."

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