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7 August 2013
From 18 to 24 August, come and visit us at Rimini

ATS pro Terra Sancta will once again be present at the Rimini Meeting, thank to the support of Compagnia delle Opere, Meseuro Foundation and Rimini Meeting Foundation. The event will take place from 18 to 24 August and will have as its theme “The Human Person: A State of Emergency”. The focus of the encounters and […]

30 July 2013
Discover what you can do to help the Holy Land: some examples

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible”.  Saint Francis of Assisi. YOU TOO can take part in the mission the Franciscans have been undertaking in the Holy Land for many centuries to preserve the Holy Places and support the local Christian communities. With only a small contribution, we can do […]

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23 July 2013
The new site of the Custody of the Holy Land dedicated to the Church of Gethsemane

The site www.getsemane-en.custodia.org offers in-depth and updated contents in four languages (Italian, English, Spanish and French), along with a rich gallery of images that can easily be downloaded. The thematic sections, organized in a simple and intuitive manner, accompany the visitor in his or her discovery and understanding of one of the most important places in […]

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17 July 2013
The project “Housing and Social Emergency in the Old City of Jerusalem” comes to an end: here are the results

An additional 35 homes renovated and 80 families supported thanks to the recently-concluded ATS pro Terra Sancta project “Housing and Social Emergency in the Old City of Jerusalem”, carried out with financing from Italian Development Cooperation, as part of its program “Emergency intervention in support of the vulnerable Palestinian population”, and the Custody of the Holy […]

12 July 2013
A new life for Nain, a small village in Galilee

A small church, in a village just a few kilometers from Nazareth and Mount Tabor, commemorates the episode of the Widow of Nain, recounted in the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus brought her son back to life. Today the church, which belongs to the Custody of the Holy Land and had previously been abandoned […]

11 July 2013
Gethsemane’s young refinishers attend lecture on mosaics

Last week, the six young workers involved in the restoration of the Gethsemane Basilica’s mosaics were given the opportunity to attend a lecture by guest of honor Professor Alessandro Lugari of the Special Superintendence for the Archaeological Heritage in Rome. The renowned Italian mosaic artist had previously collaborated with the laboratory responsible for the creation […]

9 July 2013
The workers on the project “Jerusalem, Stones of Memory” in action in Nazareth

A number of the workers from the maintenance team of the Custody’s Technical Office, involved in the project “Jerusalem, Stones of Memory”, are currently in Nazareth to complete a series of maintenance interventions within the Franciscan Monastery. At the request of Father Ricardo, Guardian of the monastery, three different groups of workers have taken turns […]

4 July 2013
Egypt, Father Vincenzo Ianniello’s witness and appeal for help

From Egypt, where the situation keeps endangering people lives, Father Vincenzo Ianniello, who has been living in Cairo for years, shares his account: “People are really in a state of absolute poverty, about half of the population lives in this situation, they really do not have food. They’re in need of everything“. We need to […]

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1 July 2013
Fra Pierbattista Pizzaballa reappointed as Custos of the Holy Land

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa has been reappointed for a further three-year term as Custos of the Holy Land. The news was announced this morning by the General Visitor of the Custody of the Holy Land fra Renato Beretta, who in his letter sent to all the religious of the Custody of the Holy Land wrote: “The […]

25 June 2013
Syria, Father François Mourad is killed in a Franciscan monastery

“When Father F. arrived to the monastery he found the frightened sisters, and the murdered friar on the ground.” Father François Mourad died yesterday in Ghassanieh, in Syria, inside a Franciscan monastery where he had sought refuge some time ago. The circumstances of his death are still not very clear. According to one version a […]

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20 June 2013
The support of the schools in Savona for the children of Bethlehem is continuing: the coming initiatives and an invitation for all friends of the Holy Land

From Savona to Bethlehem: yet another sign of the friendship of Italian children towards Palestinian children from the town of Jesus. The support from the schools in Savona for the children of the Terra Sancta School of Bethlehem began last year with a series of exchanges of letters and drawings. Now it is continuing with […]

19 June 2013
“Taking care of the neediest – welcoming and training”: a new project is underway to help children with problems in the Gaza Strip

In the midst of a very complex and difficult socio-political situation, that of the Gaza Strip, where people are suffering from lack of freedom in various areas, many children are experiencing traumas and behavioral problems arising from the situation of conflict in which they have grown up. These children are at risk of bearing for […]

14 June 2013
The history of the Custody of the Holy Land is unearthed while digging through old magazines

Work on the San Salvatore library didn’t end when its new headquarters were opened. Rather, thanks to ATS Pro Terra Sancta, and as part of the “Books, Bridges of Peace” project, work then began on making the abundance of volumes of the Custody of the Holy Land available. They don’t just consist of books, missals […]

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13 June 2013
The infinite tragedy of Syria, where the friars are remaining close to the people

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speaks of 93,000 deaths since March 2011, the beginning of the conflict in Syria. Among these are 6,500 minors and nearly 1,800 babies. Numbers that speak of an infinite tragedy, of broken lives and of a country in disintegration. In this sea of pain, where those who survive […]

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3 June 2013
May’s news from the Archaeological Museum

Here you have the Bulletin with the May’s news from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Archaeological Museum. The bulletin is edited by the volunteers working at the Museum, in order to provide periodic updates on our progress and demonstrate the potential of the institution to those who are interested in finding out more. The various activities underway feed […]

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27 May 2013
Taking care of the elderly: stories of neighbourliness towards Bethlehem’s sick and marginalised

Alone, abandoned by their families, sick and without access to care services: it’s difficult to be elderly in Bethlehem. Since the Palestinian health system depends on international aid, it is therefore is unable to provide accessibility to essential services. The people of the Palestinian Territories are suffering the socio-economic consequences, such as malnutrition, the impossibility […]

24 May 2013
“A dream that we Franciscans hope to make a reality”: the Terra Sancta Museum presented to the public in Milan

“The time has come to leave your name in history.” The meeting to present the Terra Sancta Museum concluded with this challenge. It comes, to say the least, at a moment of great economic difficulty. While all are preoccupied with preserving the little that they have, “we seek to encourage everyone to once again open […]

20 May 2013
Presentation of the Terra Sancta Museum project in Milan

On Tuesday 21 May 2013, Fra Renato Beretta, General Visitor of the Custody of the Holy Land, will make a presentation in Milan on the project for the TERRA SANCTA MUSEUM, scheduled to open in 2015 in Jerusalem. Participants will includes the organizers, museum specialists, architects and all the collaborators who for more than two […]

14 May 2013
A husband and wife’s gesture to help the parish of Jericho

They learned about the situation facing the Parish of the Good Shepherd in Jericho during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and decided, on the occasion of their wedding, to make an offering in support of the initiatives of the Franciscans in Jericho. Along with the traditional wedding comfits they gave a bookmark explaining their […]

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11 May 2013
From Lake Como to the Holy Land, here are accounts from a couple of our friends who have visited our projects

Here we have messages from two of the four people who have recently returned from a trip to the Holy Land, where they had asked ATS Pro Terra Sancta for assistance in organising their journey. They visited the conservation and local community support projects with us which we carry out in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Sabastiya, […]