The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Genesareth, which was extensively damaged by a fire started by Jewish extremists in June 2015, has been restored and reopened on 12 February.
It had been possible to restore the damage in only 20 months thanks to generous donations including those from a group of rabbis who started a crowdfunding campaign in protest against the Jewish attackers, Fr Nikodemus Schnabel OSB, prior of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem which administers the church told welt.kirche.de.
There was a dire need for reconciliation at a time of increasing nationalism, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne emphasised in his sermon in the church at the reopening Mass. “People in power the world over are fuelling nationalist ideas and providing them with a religious framework which encourages hatred and violence especially among young people,” he warned. "Today is a time of great joy and friendship. It was very warming to hear from the local people how, after the arson attack, so many people across many religions in the Holy Land came to show their solidarity."
Three Jewish extremists have been indicted for the attack but not yet been sentenced. The alleged arsonists had daubed graffiti on the walls of the church stating "false idols will be smashed” and “pagans”.
Israel donated about £400,000 to the refurbishment after the arson was classed as a hate crime but the rest of the money was raised by a crowdfunding campaign in Germany: the church holds a special significance for German Catholics.
President of Israel Reuven Rivlin attended an interfaith meeting at the church on the Saturday, which also included Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the Archbishop of Cologne, Dr. Clemens von Goetze, the German Ambassador to Israel, Sheikh Muwaffak Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute.
Rivlin thanked all those who had contributed towards restoring the church and said: “I have come to say loudly and clearly that hatred cannot win. We are bound together. We are all equal before God, and equal before the law.
"The state of Israel is ... deeply committed to the freedom of religion and of worship for all religions and believers," Rivlin added. "We stand up for religious freedom because, as a people, we know very well what it means to suffer religious persecution. And we stand up for religious freedom because we are a democratic state.
"The last time I was here, we stood together and looked at the burned walls and the terrible graffiti," the president said. "Today, I visit here again, and see the renewal of this historic, special, and holy place. I want to thank all the people who worked hard to restore this place, and to say clearly; that hate cannot win."
"Today is a time of great joy and friendship," said Woelki. "It was very warming to hear from the local people how, after the arson attack, so many people across many religions in the Holy Land came to show their solidarity."
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