The new library of Saint Saviour: nine volunteers help out for two weeks

The nine volunteers from Trento who’ve come to support the work of the Custody of the Holy Land’s technical office are – at between the ages of 21 and 32 – all very young. While the girls arrange the books on the shelves of the library of Saint Saviour’s new premises, the boys take care of the harder work: moving furniture, cleaning the stock rooms, transporting the last boxes of books to the library.

“It’s my first time in Jerusalem – says Giacomo, catching his breath between one trip and the other – and offering my work for the needs of the Custody of the Holy Land seems good way to make a simple visit more worthwhile.” The volunteers, all students at the University of Trento, will be working for two weeks in support of the project “Books, Bridges of Peace“, with which ATS pro Terra Sancta intends to improve the library of the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land. Even this cleaning and organising work is in fact necessary to make the new premises, as well as the large number of books housed in the library of Saint Saviour, accessible to all.

The nine volunteers came to Jerusalem after hearing about Francesco’s experience, who says: “I came here for the first time three years ago because I wanted to better understand what a mission was. They put me to work and I liked it. I was so fascinated that I spread the word among my friends and now I’m here for the third time, together with them.“

Everyone can contribute to this important project by supporting the Custody of the Holy Land in the conservation and recuperation of its own heritage.

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