With pilgrimages on hold, Holy Land Easter programming fills a gap
United States RNS Holy Week is typically a time when church groups flock to Israel to walk in the way of Jesus before his crucifixion in Jerusalem. But not this year. With the Hamas attack on Israel on 7th October, and the fierce ground assault on Gaza that has followed, most US church groups are […]
Essay: Easter 2024 in the Holy Land – a holiday marked by Palestinian Christian sorrow
RONI ABUSAAD, a human rights scholar and Christian Palestinian who grew up in Bethlehem, reflects on what Easter looks like for some this year…
Essay: Tattooing has held a long tradition in Christianity – dating back to Jesus’ crucifixion
GUSTAVO MORELLO, a Catholic priest and sociologist of religion, looks at the history of tattooing in Christianity in an article first published on The Conversation…
Jerusalem’s church leaders call for sober Christmas in Holy Land as war rages
RNS The top leaders of the major Christian denominations in Jerusalem have called on churches in the Holy Land to refrain from organising any “unnecessarily festive” Advent and Christmas activities in solidarity with the victims of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Smoke rises over Gaza as seen from southern […]
Christian officials accuse Israel of holiday discrimination
Jerusalem, IsraelAP A spokesman for Christian churches in the Holy Land on Wednesday accused Israel of discriminating against Christian tourists during the normally busy Christmas holiday season. Israel last month closed its borders to foreign tourists in response to the outbreak of the omicron coronavirus variant. But this week, Israeli officials decided to make an exception […]
Essay: Oh, little town of Bethlehem
NELL POTTER, executive officer of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network in Australia, writes about why the Palestinian narrative should be included in discussions about the Holy Land at Christmas…
Holy Land churches, mosques, synagogues close for coronavirus
Jerusalem, IsraelRNS In the days before the novel coronavirus, the thought that every church, synagogue and mosque in the Holy Land would be ordered shut was simply unimaginable. Yet that is today’s reality. Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on 15th March, 2020. Israel imposed sweeping travel and quarantine measures more than […]
Archaeologists uncover mosaic floor from 5th century church near Sea of Galilee
JerusalemRNS A fire that destroyed an ancient Holy Land church near the Sea of Galilee around 700 AD appears to have preserved the church’s beautiful mosaic floor, which includes depictions of baskets, loaves and fish as well as inscriptions. The floor was protected by a layer of ash and the remains of the church’s collapsed […]
WOW!: APP FOR THE BLIND IS THE LATEST IN JERUSALEM’S EFFORT TO MAKE HOLY SITES ACCESSIBLE
MICHELE CHABIN, of Religion News Service, reports…
MIDDLE EAST: GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH FACES ISRAELI HOMEOWNERS’ IRE AFTER LAND SALES
MICHELE CHABIN, of Religion News Service, reports from Jerusalem…