Paris – Sanad Sahelia – Monsignor Hugues de Wilmotte, Director General of the French association L’Œuvre d’Orient, warned of the unprecedented existential challenges facing Christians of the East, threatening the continuity of their historical presence in their homelands. Chief among these challenges are increasing migration, economic crises, and wars that have afflicted the region for years.
Human rights activist Ihab Hassan speaks about the “impunity” with which Israeli settlers are able to carry out attacks on Palestinians, and introduces the new ‘Save West Bank Christians’ initiative.
Many people nowadays are trying to find ways to earn a stable source of income despite the hard circumstances. “The Family to Family and Economic Empowerment project,” implemented by Caritas Jerusalem in cooperation with Caritas Poland, was created to help families and support individuals start their own small businesses, strengthen their livelihoods, and move forward.
Nabd ElHaya - An incident involving the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ in the Christian town of Debel, in southern Lebanon has drawn renewed attention to the sensitive issue of the protection of Christian religious symbols in areas affected by armed conflict, and the extent to which sacred sites and imagery are safeguarded in volatile and militarized environments.
In the town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, a long-standing historical legacy meets a strained daily reality, as concerns grow over the erosion of the Christian presence in one of the oldest towns in the Holy Land. This comes amid escalating settler attacks and sustained restrictions on land access and residents’ livelihoods.
Maundy Thursday Homily 2026
Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15
Dear brothers and sisters,
may the Lord give you peace.
For over one month, the Holy Land has been living the most difficult and dangerous period in our lifetime. A daily life that is interrupted several times by the sounds of multiple sirens directing us to shelters, followed by the sounds of missiles, interceptors, and fighter jets flying so close overhead, and then explosions, some in a distance, while others so close that the building shakes.
The Church in Jerusalem is calling for respect for the sanctity of life after the Israeli Knesset recently approved a law permitting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.
Amid growing controversy over the Israeli Knesset’s recent approval of a law permitting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners, the Catholic Church in the Holy Land is raising its voice in defense of the sanctity of life and the inherent dignity of every human person.
In AsiaNews, Fr Ielpo describes the run-up to Easter amidst the war in the Gulf and the closure of the holy sites. He condemns the violence perpetrated by settlers in the West Bank: “Serious acts against people who want to live in peace”. His account of southern Lebanon, which he has just visited. Prayer as an ‘essential’ path to a peace ‘that comes from above’. An appeal to Christians worldwide to ‘carry this yet another cross together’.