Contributed
PILGRIMS — The 38 Franciscan University of Steubenville students who were evacuated from Israel Wednesday gathered on the Mount of Beatitudes near the Sea of Galilee Oct. 7.
GAMING, AUSTRIA — Thirty-eight study-abroad students from the Franciscan University of Steubenville returned safely to their Gaming, Austria, campus Wednesday after their 10-day pilgrimage to Israel was cut short by growing concerns stemming from the Oct. 7 attacks on Gaza by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent declaration of war.
The students and university pastoral associate Sister Lisa Marie Shatynski, TOR, arrived back around 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, about halfway through their planned Holy Land trip, said the Rev. Dave Pivonka, TOR, university president, in a statement. The voluntary trip had been organized by Beatitudes Missions, which has been hosting the biyearly Israel trips since 2018.
Students, who arrived in Israel on Oct. 6, had just started their pilgrimage in the northern half of Israel when news broke about Hamas’ surprise attacks in the south. Pivonka said students spent their first night in Nazareth, a landlocked city about 85 miles north of Israel’s capital of Jerusalem.
By the next day, the group had transferred eastward to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where they remained until the university arranged for their return. The evacuation necessitated crossing the border into Israel’s eastern neighbor, Jordan, and the students flew out of that country’s capital city of Amman.
“My thanks to all who joined us in prayer over these past few days and to our merciful father, who heard and answered our prayers. Let’s continue to pray for each other and for all affected by this terrible conflict and for true peace to come quickly to the Holy Land,” Pivonka said
The Rev. Anthony Ariniello, CB, the founder and executive director of Beatitudes Missions, accompanied students throughout the tour until the final evacuation from Amman. Ariniello, a member of the Community of Beatitudes religious society and an experienced guide, said the trip was his eighth time guiding Franciscan students who were studying in Gaming.
Ariniello said the pilgrims, joined by four Beatitudes Missions interns, spent their first night together at Christ Church, an Anglican parish in Nazareth where they were hosted by its pastor, the Rev. Nael Abu Rahmoun, an Arab-Israeli Christian. The next day’s travels were interrupted by news of the attacks, Ariniello said, at which point “we considered staying (in Nazareth), but after consulting Abouna Nael and other locals, we followed our itinerary, driving to the Sea of Galilee.”
“Our leadership team stayed on continual alert and was in touch with those in the country who could help us judge the situation,” Ariniello said. “We evaluated our plans, worked on alternatives, took extra precautions and continually checked in on how our pilgrims felt and on the thoughts and questions of parents and members of the (university) administration.”
Maria Brown, a sophomore at the university who attended the pilgrimage, recalled how members of the group remained largely calm, with some being fearful of the circumstances.
“We all went pretty quiet,” Brown said of the group when they received the news. “All the goofing off stopped. We definitely became serious.”
Surrounded by open shops and a normal number of tourists, Ariniello said, the group “stayed focused on the present moment” and continued communal prayer and activities. He noted that students maintained a “positive tenor.”
“There were … a higher than usual number of students who set up time with me for confession or a time of one-on-one listening.” Ariniello said. “It was a privilege to listen to students express their trust in the Lord in the face of their fears.”
With return flights for the students scheduled for Oct. 14, Ariniello informed the group on Sunday that they would either remain on the shores of the Sea of Galilee until the end of the pilgrimage, or they would soon cross the border into Jordan.
Ariniello said signs of Israel’s war with Hamas, which was declared on Sunday, were not immediately evident to the group, as fighting remained concentrated around Gaza, which was outside of the planned itinerary. There were concerns, however, about the group’s closer proximity to Lebanon, home of the armed, anti-Israeli military group Hezbollah.
Still, experiencing few signs of the war led students to express the desire to continue with the trip, an opinion Brown said she shared.
“I wanted to go everywhere still,” Brown explained. “I continued feeling this way until (Sunday night.) I woke up in the middle of the night … (and) I heard … (what) sounded like far off fireworks, but I knew deep down that it probably wasn’t. That is when I got scared and realized how close everything was.”
Ariniello reported hearing what could have been missile strikes, as well as seeing at least one jet fly overhead.
The university notified the students on Monday afternoon that Catholic pilgrimage operator 206 Tours had agreed to escort them out through the Israel-Jordan Beit She’an border crossing, which lies north of the Palestinian West Bank territories.
Ariniello said students on Tuesday made their way to the crossing, where they withstood hours of 95-degree heat in line alongside other evacuating tourists.
Wednesday afternoon saw every individual fly out of Amman, but not after “affectionate hugs and some joyful tears of relief,” said Ariniello, who was the last to fly and was bound for his community in France.
“When we got to the Vienna airport and the nuns came in to get us, everything crashed down on us. A bunch of us just started crying in relief. I am definitely glad to be out,” Brown said.
Senior Ricky Silva said afterward, “I never thought I’d come to know what it feels like to be thankful just to be alive.”
Pivonka thanked those who aided the evacuation, including Ariniello; Sister Lisa Marie Shatynski, TOR; Tom Wolter, Franciscan’s Austrian program director; and Milanka Lachman and Cara Camden of 206 Tours.
“Having led many pilgrimages to the Holy Land myself and having spent time there filming for different projects, I know what a powerful experience just being there can be,” Pivonka said. “I pray that even their brief visit was life-changing for our students, despite the challenging circumstances.”