The risk to the region’s holy sites is more intangible: the lack of money from foreign pilgrims.
Israel’s war against Hamas, which began when the terrorist organization launched a marvelous attack on Israel on October 7, continued in October and November before a prolonged truce began this week, even as fighting is expected to resume. .
The human cost of the war has been catastrophic. The day of the Hamas attack was the deadliest day for Israel since it became a state, with more than 700 dead, according to government officials. Meanwhile, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry has reported what it estimates are some 12,000 deaths in Gaza amid Israeli retaliation.
In addition, the fighting has caused immense physical damage in Gaza. A recent New York Times investigation into satellite photography found that roughly a portion of all buildings in the northern Gaza Strip have been destroyed or destroyed since the start of the war.
Christians from all over the world have been visiting Israel and Palestine for many years, God’s favor as they walk through the holy places where Christ and other biblical figures were. Many Christians fear, and rightly so, that holy sites guarded for centuries as places of pilgrimage will be broken or even destroyed in the chaos of war.
According to Reuters, Hamas possesses rockets with a range capability of 150 miles, but with limited accuracy. While such rockets can theoretically succeed at the holy sites of Jerusalem and beyond, Israel’s infamous “Iron Dome” missile defense formula has traditionally intercepted maximum rocket attacks. Rocket attacks from the north, introduced through Lebanon’s Iranian-backed and Hamas-allied Hezbollah group, were also reported.
In the face of this uncertainty, what are the many valuable sites of the Holy Land?
To find out, the NAC contacted the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which has been maintaining the sacred sites of Christianity in the region for more than 800 years. In 1342, Pope Clement VI gave the Franciscans the official mandate to be the custodians. of the holy places of the Catholic Church.
Today, the Franciscans care for 65 of the Holy Land’s most important sites, including the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the classic site of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Most of the sites span Israel and Palestine, while a few are in present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
Father David Grenier is the Holy Land Commissioner for the United States, which means he is guilty of selling the Holy Land sites to the American people. He said this week that none of the sites entrusted to the care of the Franciscans are threatened lately. through war, at least not from risks like bombs or rockets.
“So far we are fortunate because there is no direct risk of war,” Grenier said in an interview with NAC.
“There is no direct threat of shelling or rocketing. We have to say that we are fortunate that none of our shrines have been destroyed or are about to be destroyed.
Instead, he said, the risk to the region’s holy sites is more intangible: a lack of money on the part of foreign pilgrims. The usually solid source of excursion equipment from the U. S. and elsewhere has been largely depleted as pilgrimage organizations eagerly await seeing how the war plays out.
In a position like Bethlehem, in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank, Father Grenier said about 90% of Christians living there make paintings directly similar to the recovery of pilgrimage equipment: running in restaurants, hotels, souvenir shops, as guides or at the shrines themselves.
Lockdowns and restrictions similar to the COVID-19 pandemic hit those staff hard for several years, he noted, and now Jerusalem’s busy streets are empty again. The ongoing war has even forced the cancellation of public Christmas celebrations in Jesus’ hometown.
“It was expected to be a record year in terms of the number of pilgrims and as Christmas approaches. . . Other people feel discouraged. They can’t work,” Father Grenier said.
“A lot of other people are leaving lately,” he continued.
“A lot of Christians, especially the younger generations, say, ‘What’s the point of this?What’s the point of staying here? It’s better to move in and live somewhere else. “It would be very sad, because this is still where the Church was born. And to have this position without a local network of Christians would be very sad. “
The Franciscans are beneficiaries of the Vatican’s annual Good Friday collection, which this year will be taken up on March 29. Traditionally, 65% of the collection goes to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the remaining 35% to the Dicastery of the Eastern Churches for seminarians and priests, as well as educational and cultural activities. In 2022, the collection raised more than $9 million.
Meanwhile, the Franciscans have begun an emergency crusade to raise funds for the Christians of the Holy Land and the priceless sites they guard.
“There’s a very tense climate right now that affects everybody,” Grenier said.
The Register interviews Samuel Tadros, a Coptic Christian, of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.
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