At 4pm on November 27th, the presentation of the 2013 Massolini Calendar, dedicated to Judea, took place at the San Giovanni Cloisters Theatre (San Giovanni 8 district), Brescia (Italy). In attendance: Father Massimo Pazzini ofm, Dean of Jerusalem’s Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, and Don Flavio Dalla Vecchia, professor of sacred scripture and Hebrew language and literature […]

We have received various requests to express our views on what is happening in Gaza. Honestly, we have not said anything until now, because one does not know what to state any more. The ecclesiastical Institutions already update and express their views regarding the matter and therefore it does not seem necessary to repeat what others […]

ATS pro Terra Sancta is following with great concern the evolution of the situation in the Gaza Strip, fearing the repeat of a tragedy like the one four years ago – Operation “Cast Lead”, which caused around 1,300 deaths –with the local population once again in the direct line of fire. Within the Christian community […]

With its fund-raising campaign “At Christmas Time a Return to the Beginning“, ATS pro Terra Sancta invites everyone to support the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land and their works to aid the most fragile amongst the living stones of Bethlehem: children, young families and the elderly. The projects of ATS pro Terra […]

For the fourth year in succession, ATS pro Terra is launching a Christmas fundraising campaign in support of Bethlehem and the needs of the poorest there! The campaign is entitled “At Christmas Time a Return to the Beginning”: an initiative in which everyone is invited to support the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy […]

ATS pro Terra Sancta opened the first affordable guest house in Jericho, thanks to financing obtained from the Belgian Cooperation. The benefits are twofold: visitors and pilgrims will be able to stay in the oldest city in the world and new jobs will created for several local unemployed Palestinians. Jericho is the oldest (and lowest, […]

On 12 October at the Antonian Charitable Society of Bethlehem, a new day centre for the elderly of the city was opened: the Saint Anthony Active Elderly Centre. ATS pro Terra Sancta has once again lent its support to pensioners most in need in Bethlehem, thanks to the help of the Committee of the Italian […]

We reproduce below the preoccupying words of Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Franciscan of the Custody of the Holy Land, on his return from a visit to his native land: Egypt. “That atmosphere, up to now so full of charm and antiquity, no longer exists. My recent visit to Egypt proved a great shock for me, […]

On Wednesday the 3rd October we held a seminar entitled “Education as a relationship between all school actors: management, teachers, students and families“, addressed to the directors of the school of the Holy Land and the teachers involved in the project “Supporting emergency education in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories”, supported by the Ministry of Foreign […]

The Christmas fundraising campaign “At Christmas Time a Return to the Beginning” has not yet officially started.  Once again this year ATS pro Terra Sancta will be supporting the Christian community of Bethlehem: children, young families and the elderly. We are anticipating the launch of the campaign with a video produced by the Franciscan Media […]

At the beginning of the Year of Faith, the Franciscan Media Center interviewed Christians of the Holy Land. They spoke of their hopes and their difficulties. As a young shopkeeper said: “We need the whole world to pray for us and stand by us. We need people to come to Bethlehem, visit the Church of […]

Around forty girls in school uniform approach the church curiously, peering in through the door and watching the archaeological excavations going on outside, enchanted by the huge ancient olive trees in the garden. They’re excited about this unusual trip, which will allow them to visit the Church of Gethsemane for the first time: even though […]

Thanks to our collaboration with the Fondazione Onlus San Zeno in Verona, ATS Pro Terra Sancta can promote and take part in educational activities at the Terra Santa College, a Franciscan school in Bethlehem. ATS pro Terra Sancta is in fact supporting 50 of the school’s students, between the ages of 10 and 17, who […]

Today, the 4th of October, the High Mass in the Latin parish of San Salvatore in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, whose charisma has resided in the Holy Land for eight centuries. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “Saint Francis was an alter Christus, a living icon of […]

Partecipation in the testimony meeting held last Saturday 22 September at the Sala della Gran Guardia in the town of Rovigo was wide and interested. The meeting coordinated by Barbara Osti, who has already volunteered for ATS in Jerusalem, included special guests father Feras Hejazin, the parish priest of Jerusalem, and two young girls from […]

The digital edition of the magazine The Holy Land, and its sister Italian-language version Terrasanta, has now come to iPad. These are aimed at all those who wish to deepen their understanding of the cultural and spiritual aspects of the Holy Land, and offer articles on the Bible, current events, ecumenism, culture and inter-religious dialogue. […]

The works to clean and restore the splendid mosaics in the Church of Gethsemane are continuing, supported by the Italian Consulate General in Jerusalem. Following the works carried out on the first two domes in the left aisle, efforts are now focused on the mosaics in the third dome. Each day the five youths involved […]

The nine volunteers from Trento who’ve come to support the work of the Custody of the Holy Land’s technical office are – at between the ages of 21 and 32 – all very young. While the girls arrange the books on the shelves of the library of Saint Saviour’s new premises, the boys take care […]

Christmas is still far away, but ATS pro Terra Sancta has already begun preparing the fundraising campaign that this year once again will be dedicated to supporting social programs in Bethlehem. In this context we begin with a suggestion directed to companies and employers: to replace their traditional company gifts with a gesture of solidarity […]

A marked success for the small town of Crespellano (Italy), where this past Saturday the exhibition “Sabastiya, the Fruits of History and the Memory of John the Baptist” was inaugurated in the fifteenth century Church of San Rocco (on Via Marconi), with the church initially being illuminated entirely by candlelight. Officiating at the inauguration and […]