(Communicated by the President’s Spokesperson) Wednesday, 9 August 2023 / 22 Menachem-Av 5783 President Herzog: “I come here on behalf of the entire State and people of Israel to reinforce our commitment to the full protection of freedom of religion and worship in the State of Israel.” “We must respect the members of all religions, […]
Continue readingMessages & Statements from the Holy Land
Christians in Jerusalem are reporting more acts of vandalism and spitting. What are Israeli officials doing about it? Brother Alberto Pari has been spat on and taunted as he walks on the streets in Jerusalem. “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” youngsters have jeered. When he first arrived in Jerusalem in 2007, he didn’t […]
Continue readingThe Jerusalem Patriarchate sent an appeal this morning, July 4, to the international community and the forces concerned with the cause of peace in the Holy Land, asking them to work to stop the attack on the city of Jenin and its camp, and to put an end to violence and bloodshed based on the […]
Continue readingThe report in Jerusalem’s old city by Israel’s Channel 13 comes amid a spike in anti-Christian hate crimes in the country. An Israeli journalist was derided and spat at, including by a child and a soldier, as he spent a day dressed as a priest in Jerusalem to investigate spiralling hate crimes against Christians in […]
Continue readingThis week marks the holiest week in Christianity – Holy Week. We recall the events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour and we remember His glorious resurrection. The celebration of the Holy Light Ceremony, is a great moment that ties the faithful to the light of Jesus Christ. This ceremony has […]
Continue reading“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) We, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, convey our Easter Greetings from the Holy […]
Continue readingWe, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, are saddened by the latest escalation of violence in the Holy Land. On Sunday night, February 26th, dozens of Israeli settlers rampaged through the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus, killing a man, injuring dozens of people with metal rods and tear gas, and torching […]
Continue readingWe, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, call upon all parties in the Holy Land to practice restraint and self-control. We have been constantly warning of an exploding, senseless cycle of violence that will only cause hurt and suffering to everyone. Such a state of affairs will almost certainly bring further atrocities and […]
Continue readingYesterday (05.01.23) Patriarch Theophilos III received the Israeli Police Commander of the Jerusalem District. The Commander requested the meeting in connection with the shameful crime of the desecration of more than 30 graves at the Protestant Cemetery on Mt Zion. Patriarch Theophilos referred to the statement the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches issued […]
Continue readingPatriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, are deeply disturbed at the wanton desecration of more than thirty gravestones at the Protestant cemetery on Mt. Zion on New Year’s Day. “Particularly troubling are the scenes recovered from the security camera footage from that afternoon. They […]
Continue readingThe desecration of Christian graves in Jerusalem is a blasphemous act. I join the Chief Rabbi and religious leaders in Jerusalem in condemning it and hope those responsible will be brought swiftly to justice. As we continue to pray for peace in the Holy Land, I stand with Archbishop Hosam Naoum and other Jerusalem church […]
Continue readingOn the morning of January 3, 2023, it was discovered that, sometime over the New Year holidays, vandals had broken into the historic Protestant cemetery on Mt. Zion, where they purposely and relentlessly smashed more than thirty gravestones, many of them historic. Security camera footage later revealed that these crimes took place beginning around 15:20 […]
Continue readingThe Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the storming of its land today, Tuesday, December 27, by an Israeli radical group in Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, south of the Old City of Jerusalem. This radical group has no right or judicial backing in their favour to allow them to enter or occupy the land. The […]
Continue readingJerusalem 08 June 2022 Today, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision rejecting the Patriarchate’s latest attempts to annul the ruling issued against it in July 2017, through which the radical Israeli organisation, Ateret Cohanim, succeeded in expropriating the properties of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem at Jaffa Gate (Bab Al-Khalil) in Jerusalem, and this decision comes despite […]
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