Tag: Holy Land

Christmas this season in the Holy Land will be celebratory despite ongoing bloodshed and war, the Holy Land's patriarchs said. And while visiting Germany, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, encouraged pilgrims to return to the birthplace of Jesus.

Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, spoke with both the president of Palestine and of Israel before cutting his trip short due to the conflict. He encouraged both to find peace and reprioritisation.

"Despite the war and everything going on around us this year, we have once again chosen to celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into the Holy City," said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has called on people of all faiths to unite in a shared commitment to promoting peace.

Australian supporters of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land have pledged to redouble their efforts after hearing from the Latin Patriarch.

Sydney’s Catholics answered Pope Francis’s call for a special day of fasting and prayer for peace on 27 October as death and destruction continued to rage in the Holy Land.

On the eve of his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a worried 42-year-old Matt Leslie said a quiet prayer to the Lord. “I asked him to keep me and my wife in his care. And that night, I felt the Lord speak to my heart, promising to keep us safe.”

As the Israel-Hamas war nears its fourth week, the pastor of Gaza's only Catholic church urged prayers for peace, the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid, telling OSV News his parishioners are experiencing "a terrible situation, a crazy situation."

An Australian pilgrimage group that managed to escape the Holy Land as conflict broke out has likened their experience to St Joseph’s flight into Egypt with the child Jesus.

Mago Shaheen has been crying for days. Though safe in her home in south-west Sydney, the 59-year-old mother of three thinks constantly of her family and friends who are suddenly homeless and fearful, their lives ripped apart by the violence of war.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has encouraged Sydney Catholics to pray for peace at St Mary's Cathedral or in their home parishes

Dear Father John Flader, I understand that the Basilica of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem is one of the churches ordered to be built by St Helena in the Holy Land. What can you tell me about it?