With ongoing war, Holy Land Christians need generous Good Friday collection

March 28, 2024 at 12:50 p.m.
Pilgrims are pictured in a file photo carrying crosses to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is in charge of most pilgrimage sites, but with no pilgrims and with churches empty for the annual Good Friday collection, officials fear they will not be able to pay teachers, maintain Franciscan sanctuaries or support tuition subsidies. (CNS photo/Ammar Awad, Reuters)
Pilgrims are pictured in a file photo carrying crosses to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is in charge of most pilgrimage sites, but with no pilgrims and with churches empty for the annual Good Friday collection, officials fear they will not be able to pay teachers, maintain Franciscan sanctuaries or support tuition subsidies. (CNS photo/Ammar Awad, Reuters) (Ammar Awad)

By EmmaLee Italia, Contributing Editor, and Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

The ongoing war in the Middle East has left many people unable to get to work and support their families with basic necessities, including food and medicine.

Franciscan Father David Grenier, based at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC, has been designated to act as a bridge between Christians in the Holy Land and the United States. In a recent letter to Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., Father Grenier wrote that “the tragic events” that started when the Islamic terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, where many face famine, “have brought many disastrous consequences, including a greatly increased need for support for the Christian community.”

The Holy Land includes, among other places, Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Much of the Christian population of the Holy Land relies upon the pilgrimage industry to make a living — something that has been challenging for the past several years.

Pandemic followed by war

“After two years of pandemic, during which no pilgrims could reach the Holy Places, Christians in the Holy Land were just starting to repay their debts when the war broke out,” Father Grenier wrote. “Now, once again, they find themselves without a source of income. People need support for everything, including medicine, surgeries, food and school tuition. Fear and despair are very strong, to the point that many Christians are thinking of leaving the country. Christians now represent less than 2% of the population, down from 23% a century ago.”

Christians in the Holy Land rely upon the contributions of Catholics around the world through the annual Pontifical Good Friday Collection. Taken up in parishes on Good Friday each year, the 2024 collection will be March 29.

The funds assist the ministry of the Franciscan Friars in the Holy Land, whom the Vatican has put in charge of maintaining a Christian presence and in maintaining the holy sites.

How is the money disbursed?

In a statement from the Vatican March 8, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches said the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, an administratively autonomous province of the Franciscan order, customarily receives 65% of the funds collected to preserve sacred places connected with the life of Jesus and to support Christians through its many pastoral, educational, welfare, health and social facilities throughout the Middle East.

The remaining 35% of the collection goes to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches to fund seminaries, advanced education for priests and nuns, cultural formation, Catholic schools — including Bethlehem University —and for subsidies to support the churches under its jurisdiction in the Middle East. The territories that benefit from the collection are Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

Recent subsidies drawn from the collection have been used to support those affected by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in early 2023, the dicastery said.

With the war in Gaza, "the dicastery is following the development of the situation, demonstrating its closeness through the apostolic delegation in Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarchate and the Custody of the Holy Land," it said, adding that it hopes to use funds from this year's collection to help Pope Francis carry out a humanitarian project in Gaza or the West Bank.

Together with the cardinal's appeal, the Vatican published a report from the Dicastery and a summary report by the Franciscan Custody detailing how they distributed the more than 6.5 million euro ($7.1 million) collected in 2023. Last year’s collection supported 23 parishes and three academic institutions; provided a home in Bethlehem for 30 children from homes facing domestic violence; offered more than 500 scholarships for university education; helped keep schools open for more than 10,000 pre-K through 12th grade students; supported 53 friars preparing for the priesthood; restored and maintained 640 houses and apartments for Christian families; provided assistance to more than 9,000 families through weekly food baskets; employed more than 1,000 workers in the Holy Land; preserved 80 shrines from the life of Jesus, the Apostles and the prophets; and continued the work of restoration of the floor at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.

Workers can’t get to their jobs

The Franciscan Custody's report also said that the worsened war between Palestine and Israel "has brought a sudden cancellation of all pilgrimages," and the closure of all checkpoints has made it impossible for workers from the West Bank to enter Jerusalem.

The custody "has continued to provide equally for the payment of wages" for workers from the West Bank who are no longer able to get into Jerusalem, it said, and it is giving priority to employing workers where it can in the West Bank "in order to offer work opportunities for Christians hailing from a territory that does not benefit from a welfare system or from social security."

In his letter to Bishop O’Connell, Father Grenier noted that the Catholic Church began in the Holy Land and asked if Catholics could let “our Mother Church become a place without a local Church?”

He said with the help of Catholics around the world, the Franciscans and the Vatican “can continue to be a light of hope to those living in darkness in the Holy Land.”

For more information about Christians in the Holy Land, visit https://myfranciscan.org/ or https://custodia.org/en

The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.


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The ongoing war in the Middle East has left many people unable to get to work and support their families with basic necessities, including food and medicine.

Franciscan Father David Grenier, based at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC, has been designated to act as a bridge between Christians in the Holy Land and the United States. In a recent letter to Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., Father Grenier wrote that “the tragic events” that started when the Islamic terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, where many face famine, “have brought many disastrous consequences, including a greatly increased need for support for the Christian community.”

The Holy Land includes, among other places, Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Much of the Christian population of the Holy Land relies upon the pilgrimage industry to make a living — something that has been challenging for the past several years.

Pandemic followed by war

“After two years of pandemic, during which no pilgrims could reach the Holy Places, Christians in the Holy Land were just starting to repay their debts when the war broke out,” Father Grenier wrote. “Now, once again, they find themselves without a source of income. People need support for everything, including medicine, surgeries, food and school tuition. Fear and despair are very strong, to the point that many Christians are thinking of leaving the country. Christians now represent less than 2% of the population, down from 23% a century ago.”

Christians in the Holy Land rely upon the contributions of Catholics around the world through the annual Pontifical Good Friday Collection. Taken up in parishes on Good Friday each year, the 2024 collection will be March 29.

The funds assist the ministry of the Franciscan Friars in the Holy Land, whom the Vatican has put in charge of maintaining a Christian presence and in maintaining the holy sites.

How is the money disbursed?

In a statement from the Vatican March 8, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches said the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, an administratively autonomous province of the Franciscan order, customarily receives 65% of the funds collected to preserve sacred places connected with the life of Jesus and to support Christians through its many pastoral, educational, welfare, health and social facilities throughout the Middle East.

The remaining 35% of the collection goes to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches to fund seminaries, advanced education for priests and nuns, cultural formation, Catholic schools — including Bethlehem University —and for subsidies to support the churches under its jurisdiction in the Middle East. The territories that benefit from the collection are Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

Recent subsidies drawn from the collection have been used to support those affected by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in early 2023, the dicastery said.

With the war in Gaza, "the dicastery is following the development of the situation, demonstrating its closeness through the apostolic delegation in Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarchate and the Custody of the Holy Land," it said, adding that it hopes to use funds from this year's collection to help Pope Francis carry out a humanitarian project in Gaza or the West Bank.

Together with the cardinal's appeal, the Vatican published a report from the Dicastery and a summary report by the Franciscan Custody detailing how they distributed the more than 6.5 million euro ($7.1 million) collected in 2023. Last year’s collection supported 23 parishes and three academic institutions; provided a home in Bethlehem for 30 children from homes facing domestic violence; offered more than 500 scholarships for university education; helped keep schools open for more than 10,000 pre-K through 12th grade students; supported 53 friars preparing for the priesthood; restored and maintained 640 houses and apartments for Christian families; provided assistance to more than 9,000 families through weekly food baskets; employed more than 1,000 workers in the Holy Land; preserved 80 shrines from the life of Jesus, the Apostles and the prophets; and continued the work of restoration of the floor at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.

Workers can’t get to their jobs

The Franciscan Custody's report also said that the worsened war between Palestine and Israel "has brought a sudden cancellation of all pilgrimages," and the closure of all checkpoints has made it impossible for workers from the West Bank to enter Jerusalem.

The custody "has continued to provide equally for the payment of wages" for workers from the West Bank who are no longer able to get into Jerusalem, it said, and it is giving priority to employing workers where it can in the West Bank "in order to offer work opportunities for Christians hailing from a territory that does not benefit from a welfare system or from social security."

In his letter to Bishop O’Connell, Father Grenier noted that the Catholic Church began in the Holy Land and asked if Catholics could let “our Mother Church become a place without a local Church?”

He said with the help of Catholics around the world, the Franciscans and the Vatican “can continue to be a light of hope to those living in darkness in the Holy Land.”

For more information about Christians in the Holy Land, visit https://myfranciscan.org/ or https://custodia.org/en

The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.

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