JERUSALEM (OSV News) — Amid the turmoil of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Father Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, has a unique perspective on the plight of the region’s Christians.
As head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land – responsible for safeguarding Christianity’s holy sites for more than 800 years – Father Patton has been a staunch advocate of peace and mutual respect between different religious and ethnic communities.
In the days after Christmas, OSV News spoke with the Custos of the Franciscan Curia to discuss the complexities of life in the Holy Land during the war and the devastating tragedy of Christians living in the Gaza Strip.
In the interview, Father Patton highlights the impact of the war, the situation facing local Christians and the guardians’ mission to preserve the sacred shrines. Father Patton’s reflections offer both a sobering account of current realities and a hopeful vision of reconciliation in the birthplace of Christianity.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: Last Christmas marked the second year of a more low-key celebration in Bethlehem. Could you reflect on this year’s experience?
Father Patton: Christmas this year, for the second year, was a sober Christmas – I can say that without too many lies. … But it was especially the second year without pilgrims. This affects the celebration of Christmas because, as you know, at Christmas Bethlehem is the capital of the world. For Christians living in Bethlehem, the presence of pilgrims is also a source of work, hence this sobriety in the celebration.
But the liturgical celebration was very solemn. Despite the situation, many local Christians attended the holy mass. The Patriarch celebrated midnight mass in the Church of Saint Catherine and the celebration took place in the grotto in front of the nativity scene. Both places were crowded, and it was the same when I was there at the start of Advent.
And I will be there again for Epiphany, which is the most beautiful celebration in the Holy Land and in Bethlehem – it has a very unique aspect. As we end the celebration of Christmas, the eastern churches begin the celebration of Christmas. On the afternoon of Epiphany, all the churches – Eastern and Western – are gathered around the cave where Jesus was born. It is very touching, something which has a great spiritual dimension because it means that the child Jesus is capable of unifying the Christian world. But it also has an emotional aspect because one can hear prayers and chants in many different languages.
OSV News: The persistent absence of pilgrims has had a significant impact on the local Christian community and on the Custody of the Holy Land. Could you explain how this has affected the guard’s ability to maintain holy sites, support local Christians and fulfill its mission?
Father Patton: The lack of pilgrims affects local Christians, because our main task is precisely to be the guardians of the holy places, which is why we take care of around 80 holy places in around fifty different shrines. When there are no pilgrims, of course, we continue to live and pray in these shrines, but we have no income. Pilgrims generally support us and all holy places are open free of charge. We do not charge entry — except to Capernaum — because it is a very important archaeological site. All sanctuaries are open, so we continue to have expenses for maintenance, water, electricity, etc.
Of course, we continue to pay the salaries of our employees, because if we do not give them this opportunity, their families are left without any income. To keep going, we try to find something for them to do and support them, even temporarily. For local Christians, for all those who live around the holy places, the situation is very difficult. For those living in the West Bank, it is also difficult because, since 2023, it is not easy to obtain a permit to work in Israel. In Palestine, job opportunities are fewer and salaries are lower.
If we think about the Christians living in Gaza, it is a disaster on a material level. Gaza is totally destroyed. I saw the destruction in Aleppo after the war because I visited Aleppo several times – and other cities in Syria… but when I saw what happened in Gaza, I was surprised. What happened in Syria is nothing compared to the destruction in Gaza.
The Patriarch recently traveled to Gaza to celebrate Christmas at the Holy Family Parish and said it was impossible to recognize the places or even get your bearings because everything is destroyed. Despite the situation and the news of daily deaths in Gaza – many of them children – Gaza’s small Christian community, Catholic and Orthodox, continues to have a strong faith. The miracle is that they continue to have hearts free from hatred, desire for revenge and bad feelings. They only want peace. They want the opportunity to start over and live in peace in the land of their ancestors.
OSV News: Given the challenges facing Christians in the Holy Land, particularly in areas like Gaza and the West Bank, could you share the Guard’s current initiatives to support these communities? How do these projects meet both material and spiritual needs?
Father Patton: Yes, we have many projects. For example, Catholic Relief Services, through the Pontifical Mission Societies, carries out numerous projects supporting the Christian presence. There is a whole network that tries to support local Christians. Of course, we are the oldest presence because we have been here since the time of Saint Francis, over 800 years. But now all major Catholic institutions are trying to support the Christian presence. We try to support them in many ways, for example by building houses.
We offer over 400 apartments to local Christians in Jerusalem. We thus manage to preserve the Christian character of the Christian quarter of the old town. We offer over 200 homes in Bethlehem and surrounding areas. We also have a major project starting soon in Jaffa and a joint project with the agricultural sector to build an efficient complex near the wall surrounding Bethlehem. This is a way for us to offer employment opportunities. We provide work for around 2,000 people, which is a big effort because it means that every month we have to pay high salaries.
For me, the most important social activity is our schools. We have 18 schools in the Holy Land. These schools are crucial because they provide not only cultural education but also human and religious education. We emphasize the importance of living together and the values of (the papal encyclical) “Fratelli Tutti”. Our Magnificat music school is a rare example of coexistence: most of the teachers are Jewish and most of the students are Muslim and Christian. Through these efforts, we hope to foster a mentality of living together and counter polarization fueled by politics and ideology.
OSV News: Since the events of October 7, the region has experienced profound upheavals. Based on your extensive experience in the Holy Land, how does the current situation compare to past conflicts? What was striking or unprecedented about this recent crisis?
Father Patton: The situation after October 7 was shocking for everyone, especially for the Jewish and Palestinian people. It was like reliving, for the Jewish people, the experience of the Shoah and, for the Palestinian people, the experience of the Nakba. The hatred that spread after October 7 was so overwhelming. This broke relationships and created fear even in places where there was coexistence. For us, coming from the outside, it was shocking to see the lack of rationality in the distinction between good and evil. It was very difficult to take a stand because every time we did we were misunderstood by one or both sides.
Despite this, I found two striking examples of a different approach to the situation. One of them is the small Christian community in Gaza. Although they were attacked and bombed like everyone else, they kept their hearts free from hatred and revenge. They had a strong experience of community life, supported by prayer with daily mass, the rosary and adoration. The other example is that of an Israeli woman named Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son was a hostage. She emphasized the need for empathy and mutual understanding, saying: “All tears carry the same weight.” To me, this reflects a very Christian approach, as St. Paul says: “Suffer with those who suffer. » (“If (one) part suffers, all parts suffer with it” — 1 Corinthians).
OSV News: What message would you like to share with American Christians about the situation in the Holy Land? How can they better understand and support local Christian communities, descendants of the first disciples of Christ?
Father Patton: I would like Americans to remember that this is where our faith began. Local Christians are descendants of the first Christian community. Sometimes when I visit the United States, I feel like American Christians don’t fully recognize this connection, that they don’t recognize that Arab Christians were the first Christians. But we are all linked to the first Christian community. Local Christians have endured centuries of challenges as a minority, paying the high price of martyrdom for their faith over the centuries. We Franciscans know this very well because we have been here since 1217. We have shared the difficulties with local Christians; we shared the persecutions, and we also share them here in Syria and Lebanon. Read what Saint Paul says: All Christians are indebted to the Church of Jerusalem. This debt is a debt of faith because the Christian faith began here. The Son of God was incarnated and born of the Virgin Mary on this earth.
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