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War has become ‘a way of life’ in Holy Land

April 17, 2024

War in Gaza has become a “way of life,” says a Franciscan priest in the Holy Land. “The Holy Land has been at war for almost seven months,” said Franciscan Father Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. “It is a way of life, or rather an obligation to live the

Israeli historian calls out International Women’s Day for forgetting female hostages in Gaza

March 14, 2024

In the wake of the recent celebration of International Women’s Day a prominent Israeli historian specialising in gender issues has decried how the global event appeared to have no time for the 19 women who remain captives of the insurgent-terrorist group Hamas. Noting that most of the women have likely endured sexual violence, Tamar Herzig was speaking at

Pope talks of ‘courage to negotiate’ to end war in Ukraine

March 11, 2024

ROME – The Pope has spoken of Ukraine needing to consider negotiations to end the ongoing war with Russia. In weighing up the debate between those who say it is time for Ukraine to consider a negotiated settlement and those who argue the country must fight on, the Pope has said he believes “the strongest

Archbishop of Canterbury apologises for not meeting Bethlehem pastor over pro-Palestinian rally concerns

February 29, 2024

The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued a public apology for declining to meet a Bethlehem-based pastor during a UK visit earlier this year over concerns about such a meeting happening against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict. Archbishop Justin Welby cancelled plans to meet Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac in the latter half of February 2024,

Finding hope in the desert: getting lost and discovering the way

February 14, 2024

The desert experience of the people of Israel was a difficult time of testing and penance, of getting lost and discovering the way, as the Lord sought to mould them into His covenant people. Yet the later prophets looked back on it as the honeymoon period in the people’s relationship with the Lord. The most

Pope highlights civilian casualties in a world ‘increasingly lacerated’ by conflict

January 08, 2024

ROME – After a year that saw thousands of civilians killed in wars and violent conflicts, Pope Francis told diplomats accredited to the Holy See that international war crimes must be recognised and prevented. In his 8 January address, the Pope noted that as the year 2024 opens the world is “increasingly lacerated” by conflict,

The plight of Christians in the Holy Land this Christmas

December 17, 2023

This editorial from the Catholic Herald reflects on the attack on Christians in Gaza yesterday. There is one part of the Church where the celebrations for Christmas have already been put on hold, and that is the Holy Land, where Church leaders encouraged Christians to curb the usual festivities and decorations out of respect for

Gaza’s only Catholic church damaged by shrapnel

December 11, 2023

The sole Catholic church in Gaza was damaged over the weekend as a result of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed that shrapnel from Israeli military strikes on buildings in the vicinity of the Holy Family Church had destroyed water tanks and solar panels on the roof of