Holy Land

Since his return to Gaza City’s Holy Family Parish in May, Father Gabriel Romanelli has been working to organize educational and pastoral activities for the parish youth who have been out of their classrooms since the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught against southern Israeli communities and a retaliatory war that has raged for over nine months.

Father Allen Kuss of Edina has created a Fontanini Nativity scene depicting the Holy Land region, complete with landscape and buildings, including the temple in Jerusalem.

The desecrated face of a statue of the crucified Christ in a Jerusalem church should move Catholics around the world “to recognize the pain of so many of our brothers and sisters” in the Holy Land, who have experienced the tragedy of violence and natural disasters, said a top Vatican official.

A new section of the museum will serve as a point of dialogue and exchange with the local Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities — as well as pilgrims and visitors of all faiths and backgrounds who come to Jerusalem to explore its history and cultures.

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In an economy hit hard by the pandemic and the lack of pilgrimages and other tourism for two years, Christians in the Holy Land “are in desperate need of support,” said a news release about the 2022 Good Friday Collection that continues to support the work of the Franciscans of the Holy Land.

Before giving his Christmas blessing to the city of Rome and to the world, Pope Francis drew attention to the many places around the globe and within human hearts in need of Jesus, the prince of peace.