From unemployment to decaying buildings, the city of Christ’s birth is in need of regeneration. Enter a new Christian mayor – and Banksy

Last Christmas in Jerusalem it was hard to buy a Christmas pudding or see a decorated fir tree in the Western half of the city. It’s the same this year. Interestingly, this December marks the first century of non-Muslim rule in Jerusalem since the Crusades when the Ottomans surrendered to British troops. Today, visitors find

Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history at Oxford University, thinks that the Second Commandment has always posed a problem for Christians and Jews. “This commandment has often been ignored, not just in Christian art, but also in Jewish art,” he says. We were discussing the upcoming exhibition Imagining the Divine: Art and the Rise

Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history at Oxford University, thinks that the Second Commandment has always posed a problem for Christians and Jews. “This commandment has often been ignored, not just in Christian art, but also in Jewish art,” he says. We were discussing the upcoming exhibition Imagining the Divine: Art and the Rise

A secret world is opening up beneath the twisting flagstone alleys of Jerusalem. Underground Jerusalem. This network of wide tunnels and narrow passages, the result of decades of archaeological digging, has allowed pilgrims visiting the Old City to descend into a parallel universe. They can now also walk on a wide Roman road on the

In the birthplace of Christianity, the different calendars used by churches mean that Christmas comes more than once a year

This year, for the first time in the history of the state of Israel, Christmas Day will be a public holiday. This is not the result of a sudden concession by the Israeli government to its Christian population or to honour Jerusalem as the birthplace of Christianity. It is simply because Christmas overlaps with an

For the first time in almost 2,000 years, scientists have examined Jesus’s tomb; what they have found underlines the truth of the Gospels

Last week, for the first time in its history of nearly 2,000 years, the tomb (sepulchre) of Jesus was examined by archaeologists and conservationists. Never before has it been subject to scientific scrutiny. These men of science, accompanied by a group of selected priests and monks, were surprised by what they saw. Despite centuries of

Many Arab Christians wanting to divorce resort to converting to another religion

Pope Francis has insisted that his annulment reforms are not a subversion of the Church’s teaching against divorce. But in the Middle East annulments are divorces both in intent and in effect. Indeed, as no states in the Middle East and North Africa, apart from Turkey and Tunisia, have civil marriage and divorce laws, annulments

The Pope has appointed Franciscans to two of the most prestigious posts in the Holy Land. Neither speaks Arabic, so what's going on?