Archbishop Elias Chacour was born to a Palestinian Christian family in the village of Biram in Galilee in 1939. At the age of eight he was evicted from the area by the Israeli government, along with his family and the rest of the people in the town.  He was granted Israeli citizenship when the state of Israel was created in 1948. In 1965 as a young priest he was assigned to a church in Ibillin, Galilee, where, after six years and with the help of the U.S. government, he founded Mar Elias Schools. These unique schools admit Christians, Druze, Muslims, and Jews and started with four faculty members. Now these Christian-run schools have more than 290 faculty members, including Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and over 5,000 children of all faiths.

Archbishop Chacour preaches love and friendship. He emphasized that he is working for the civil rights of Palestinians but not if it means hating Jews. He pointed out that for centuries Jews and Palestinians lived together in peace and that they are blood brothers.  He is the author of two books, Blood Brother   and We Belong to the Land.

Archbishop Elias Chacour also spoke at a benefit dinner on Friday, March 24, at The Lodge at McDonald's Corporate Headquarters in Oak Brook. He continues to believe that peace in the Middle East depends upon the education of the children.

He worries about the future of the Christians in the Holy Land.  When he is asked when people there became Christians, he explains that his forefathers, the Palestinian Christians, "converted to Christianity 2000 years ago, the day of the Pentecost." They are the people who "went all over the world preaching the Good News" and that it is because of what they preached and wrote in the Gospels that the people of the western world came to know about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith.

"We need to survive," he said. "The Arab Palestinians are 1.2 million. Among them is a very small Christian minority, 146,000 Palestinian Christians. We are threatened by the ongoing migration. ... And the Christians are leaving because we don't find a welcome. ... What we want to prove to Israel is that it is possible to have a unity within the diversity."

Archbishop Chacour also spoke on Thursday evening, March 23, at North Park University and at the 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 a.m. services on Sunday, March 26, at Christ Church of Oak Brook.  On Sunday evening, March 26, he did a presentation at Chicago Temple.

Thanks to the members of Pilgrims of Ibillin and all their hard work, Archbishop Elias Chacour spoke and preached to nearly 4000 people at 12 different events. Through the generosity of people who came to listen to him, 39 desks were dedicated, enough to fill a classroom, along with a computer, library and reference books, and elementary school kits. $10,000 was raised for the Archbishop’s Scholarship fund so the neediest children can be helped. In all, over $50,000 in gross revenues were raised at all these events. Archbishop Chacour came to the Chicago area to speak about injustice and to find support for his schools and accomplished both of his goals glowingly.

In the meantime several other churches asked how they could put on a Biblical Feast and other churches asked how they could make Archbishop Chacour part of their mission program and others asked how they could visit his schools in the Holy Land. This wouldn’t have happened without the people who made the Pilgrim's Breakfast, the Biblical Feast, and the Benefit dinner such outstanding successes.

Donations to the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI) can be made online at their Pilgrims of Ibillin website - http://www.princetonfusion.net/ibillin/content/view/13/30/.

You can also help Palestinian Christians by purchasing beautiful hand-carved olive wood items that come directly from Bethlehem and Beit Sahour - the town of the Shepherd’s Field next to Bethlehem. Proceeds go directly to Palestinian Christians to provide employment and education for the children at Mar Elias Elementary School, founded by Father Elias Chacour. For more information or to purchase these beautiful items, which were on display at our November 2005 Christmas Festival, contact Cerena Fischer at 630-289-4942 or by email at bethlehemimport2@aol.com. You can also view photos and obtain more information on the Bethlehem Imports website - http://www.bethlehemimports.org.