Franciscan friars walk the streets of Old Jerusalem.

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Dear Friends,
What I am about to relate is a sad event which happened to several friars of the Custody of the Holy Land a few hours ago.

We were returning from Gethsemane where we had gone to celebrate the renewal of the vows, after having taken part in a beautiful and tranquil celebration presided by the Custos.  On our way back, there were a number of groups of policemen watching the road. I am talking about the part that goes from the Lions' Gate up, towards St. Saviour.

We all know that when the police are deployed like this, it is a sign that there is to be a demonstration by Jews crossing the Muslim quarter where there is the Convent of the Flagellation.

About fifteen metres from the entrance to the Flagellation (the convent where I live) two other friars and myself were stopped by a policeman because the demonstrators were about to arrive. I told him we were only a few metres away and that we could get out of the way but he suggested stopping where we were.

The scene was incredible. The demonstrators were mainly young people, some teenagers, others boys, and all, or at least the majority of them, with sidecurls. Suddenly it was total chaos. We began to hear, as the demonstrators preparing to spit as they passed by, the clearing of throats, the preparation and the aim.

First of all the aspiring snipers, after having looked at us with contempt, merely spat along the road or, coming closer to us, at our feet. Then some bolder ones, considering that there were a lot of them, aimed directly at us. I must add that the policeman who had stopped us told them off, even strenuously, but they did not pay the slightest attention. They just continued spitting.

Once the spitting had started, emulation did the rest. What was more attractive than to aim at the face and, you can bet on it, boast of having spat in the face of a friar?

When I realized that things were getting out of hand, I wanted to move to go and tell the policemen who control the front of the entrance to our convent (the exit from the tunnel that opens from the Wailing Wall on to the Via Dolorosa) to intervene. In the meantime, the hero of the group who had spat at me in the face, arrived.

I reacted and, speaking in Italian, I must have said something like "idiot" or "coward" or something like that. If I did not say that, or even worse, that's what I thought. Probably he was surprised by my reaction. He had a second go, perhaps - and I'm only guessing - because he expected me to stand there and turn the other cheek, or because the spit was only saliva and a little mucus. I had dared to react!

Can I tell you? I anticipated him. Yes, I confess that I anticipated him. I received a slight kick on my left arm, I don't know how and I don't know who from, nor am I interested. In the crowd that had formed, an almost three-cornered hat said to me in English (I think I understood it correctly) that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In short, we were the provocation. It was our fault. Logic is logic. If that is the way things are, then the other friars and myself will publicly ask for an apology. One thing, though, is that the aim of the one who spat was not off target, but accurate. I give him credit for that.

It is hardly surprising that the police apologised, and gave as an excuse that they were youngsters. This is not the first time this has happened. I have heard and seen, as I have passed by, dressed as a Franciscan, contemptuous spitting in the area in front of the Wailing Wall and the so-called Sharon's house - and always by youngsters with sidecurls. Every friar who has lived in the Holy Land for a few years has experienced encounters of this type, and not only with youngsters.

I want to make some clarifications. By reporting this, I do not intend by any means to generalize. Last Tuesday we celebrated the Mass in memory of Fr. Michele Piccirillo and I saw his dearest Jewish friends, who are also my dear friends, were there. I have met people in this land, and I have attended language courses appearing as I am, a friar, and I have never seen any signs of irritation  or contempt for me. On the contrary, I have always been received with kindness and friendship.

What I intend to denounce is essentially this: If a youngster spits in this way and with this arrogance and defiance, even in the presence of the police, it means that they have received this teaching from their masters, or their fathers, and are well protected. The event that occurred has a clear pseudo-religious origin and their contempt is a manifestation of hatred. Now try and imagine, if only remotely, something of this kind happening to any one of those demonstrators in the farthest corner of the earth. What would have happened in the world of communication?

Quite frankly, I do not claim to want to be appreciated or esteemed for what I am, let alone loved. People are free to despise me for what I am and for what I represent, or may represent, in their eyes. But unfortunately, there is a huge difference between such an attitude and being twice spat at in the face without reacting. That is my limit.

Some here at the Flagellation fraternally reproached me for having reacted, because we should never lower ourselves to that level. That's true. A little earlier, we had renewed our vows together at Gethsemane, where the Custos reminded us of the fiat of Our Lord Jesus. Francis would never have reacted and he would have prayed for the person who spat at him, I know that all too well. I will stop here so that I do not fall into the trap of rhetoric.

To justify myself, I said I reacted as the son of my parents and as a member of my family. That's not an excuse. I very much believe it, and it worked.