“Who does not know his past, has no future!” said Carla Benelli, coordinator of Cultural Projects for the Association Pro Terra Sancta, at the end of her speech at festival held in Bethany (in Arabic Al-Aizaria) on May 1st. The title of the event was: “Taht Al-Qanatir”, literally “Under the Tower”, referring to the most […]

“Great people! Of an equilibrium and calmness that are not easy to keep in that land of constant conflicts!” says the Professor of Human studies, of the of the Salvador Allende Institute in Milan, at the end of the lesson on mosaics in Palestine and the history of the Mosaic Centre Jericho. The presentation is […]

“The physical place that preserves the memory of the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ and testifies that the incarnation of the Son of God is so real and complete that it arrives at the experience of death, which is the ultimate experience of any human existence. But the Holy Sepulchre is above all the […]

“Shady!”. Hush. “Shaady!”. We shout again; silence again. Then suddenly he appears, with the phone on one side and with a pack of towels and blankets under his other arm. His name is Shady Shair, 29, the handyman at Guesthouse Sabastiya. We are in Samaria, in the place where there is the tomb of John the […]

It had never happened before. The tomb of the Holy Sepulcher has been finally restored after 10 months of work. For the inauguration, the chairs are arranged in a circle, divided by sector, according to the various denominations: Greek Orthodox, the sector of the Latin Catholics and that of the Armenians. The chairs are divided […]

It was 15 March 2011. At that time, the Middle East lived a new hope brought by the Arab Springs, when a series of demonstrations against the regime of Bashar Al Assad rushed Syria into chaos. Today the numbers of a war that seems to have no end speak for themselves. According to the Syrian […]

Examples of co-existence, while everywhere in the Middle East never-ending conflicts destroy everything. Excursions between Israel and Palestine, to discover a millenary heritage that belongs to all humanity. Lectures to explain what is going on a few steps from Europe, where our civilization is rooted. This is what the “Middle East Community Program” is all […]

“The commitment to support the Churches of the Middle East dates back to St. Paul. The apostle of the Gentiles always insisted on the commitment for Jerusalem, because thanks to the Christian community of the Holy City the Gospel was spread throughout the world. The same is true today. The Church of Jerusalem continues to be […]

“Before I started working here I did not know anything about the Via Dolorosa, I didn’t even know what Convent of the Flagellation was…” Christine tells us. She is a 24 year old Christian from the Old City. She has been working for the Terra Sancta Museum for some few months now. “It’s true,” says Rozan, […]

“I’m rediscovering much of my faith and of the faith of my Christian friends. When you do not know the other, you are guided by stereotypes and distrust … It takes so little to change”, says  Mohammed at the end of the lecture held at the Greek Catholic School in Beit Sahour. There are about twenty […]

5 women, some of them are veiled, some others are not. They are mothers, Christian and Muslim mothers together, and mothers who are learning how to cook. This is the purpose of the new project Association pro Terra Sancta in Bethlehem, within a larger three-year program “Women, young people and old people: we support the […]

(From Terrasanta.net) Rubble, houses and roads destroyed for kilometers. This is the most painful stage of our journey to Syria, where it’s hard to hold the commotion. “Welcome to Aleppo!” The road signs indicating the entrance to the ancient capital of the North, sound almost like a joke. While signs of the bloody battle that a […]

(From terrasanta.net) In the Franciscan church near Bab Touma (The Door of Thomas) in Damascus, the dome still bears the signs of recent bombings. Br. Bahjat Karakach, the superior of the convent, miraculously escaped the explosion that damaged the sanctuary. The parish center where Br. Antoine Louxa lives along with him is the first stop […]

The Annual Report 2017 of ATS pro Terra Sancta has been published in these days. The report tells all the work done in 2017 through numbers. After such an important achievement, the first thing we would like to tell you is simply “thank you”.

“We learn to reconcile ourselves with our problems, we learn to face them, but above all, we learn to grow starting from them and from other kinds of difficulties. And then we learn to exercise our critical judgment, in addressing the problems, not to address them instinctively”, says Ibrahim, who is 13 years old. This […]

To all those who have donated with a benevolent gesture. To all those who have accompanied us, who have met us along the road, and who have visited us allowing us to feel your presence. To the community of friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, who we serve with the same daily mission […]

“Soldiers cannot make peace, perhaps they might just win a war. We need Politics to pursue peace, but right now Politics is missing and we don’t even know what is going to happen next”. With these words the newly elected Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarcate in Jerusalem, Mons. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, recently described the ongoing situation in Aleppo. […]

According to a recent study done by UNICEF, violence in Palestinian schools is growing: almost 50% of children assisted to episodes of violence in class, 51% admitted to have used aggressive behavior towards their peers, and even teachers complain about violence in class or admit to have used or experienced violence, both physical and psychological. […]

The church of the Franciscan parish in Damascus, located near the gate of Bab Touma, was hit today afternoon by a mortar shell that damaged the dome and broke some glasses. The debris fell on the ground, but there are no serious consequences. Fr. Bahjat Karakach, who was in the church during the explosion, was […]

A sigh of relief for the sick, the elderly and the children of Bethlehem, thanks to the generous support of the Fondation Françoise d’Assise to the work of the Franciscan Social Services Office (FSSO), the office of social services of the Custody of the Holy Land in Bethlehem. The FSSO works in cooperation with the Association […]