The photographic exhibition entitled “The guardians of Christ’s tomb,” the work of the French photographer Thomas Coex, was presented at the Royal Basilica of St Francis the Great in Madrid on Friday 18 October.
Fra Tony Choukri, treasurer of the Custody and Fra Luis Quintana, deputy curator of the exhibition, were also present.
The photos are by Thomas Coex, a professional photographer for the Agence France Press (AFP). He has a long experience of living and working in the Holy Land. After having become acquainted with the reality of the Custody of the Holy Land, in 2013 he decided to start a photographic project that was to keep him in the Holy Land until 2019. In these six years, he had the chance to work in close contact with the Franciscan friars, entering into their daily life made up of work and prayer.
Like Good Samaritans in the Holy Land
“When I came into close contact with the Franciscan friars, I discovered that they were not only a religious order. They have schools for children in a number of cities, a music school in Jerusalem and many other activities. I wanted to show the Franciscan face in the Holy Land with this photographic project. Each friar has his work which is not only religious, this is the side that I like to show.”
Thomas had the chance to immerse himself completely in the life of the friars, sharing their meals, being present when they carried out their various duties and taking part in their moments of spiritual meditation.
“I wanted to understand and then show,” Thomas says, “why the Franciscans have been so well accepted by the local population in the Holy Land for eight hundred years. As though they were, let’s say, Good Samaritans in these places.”
A message of peace that is always topical
This is already the third time that Thomas has presented his exhibition, which was inaugurated in Jerusalem and then taken to Paris and now it has come to Spain. However, the message of these photos always remains up to date.
“The exhibition could speak at the same time about the past, the present but also the future. Today the situation in the Holy Land and the whole region is highly critical, but the message of peace ought to be more important than the message of war. We need more messages of peace today.”
It was a message of peace that Fra Tony also recalled in his opening speech: “Living the Franciscan way means being a brother to everyone and trying to remove from the world the suffering created by man’s selfishness and power. I hope that this exhibition is a sign of solidarity with the Christians of the Holy Land and with those who are suffering all over the world.”
A new awareness
Brought up from a very young age in the Christian-Catholic tradition, Thomas tells of how his experience of six years in the Holy Land brought new awareness to his faith.
“It was a revolution for me, as a photographer. I had the chance to translate with my eyes and with photography the words that tell the story of the life of Jesus and for me this was a great gift. In addition, I was able to understand better the problems of the situation in the Holy Land and the various aspects of the religions and peoples that live in it. It was an experience that only Jerusalem can offer you.”
