Jerusalem: Holy Week Behind Closed Doors. A Statement from the Catholic Patriarch

Mar 23, 2026 18:08

ZENIT Staff

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Holy Land•Persecuted Christians•Testimonies

This was the funeral of the Lebanese Catholic priest who died in Israeli army bombings

On March 10, the Maronite Catholic community buried Father Pierre El Raii, the parish priest of St. George Church in Qlayaa, who died a day earlier after being wounded during an Israeli artillery strike while attempting to assist injured parishioners

Mar 12, 2026 21:09

ZENIT Staff

Holy Land•Justice and Peace•Persecuted Christians•Vatican Diplomacy

Lebanon requests diplomatic mediation from the Vatican to prevent Israel from attacking or displacing Catholic communities in the south of the country

The Vatican response was cautious but attentive. Gallagher reportedly assured the Lebanese minister that the Holy See is maintaining diplomatic contacts aimed at halting the escalation and preventing further displacement of civilians

Mar 11, 2026 17:46

ZENIT Staff

Holy Land•Justice and Peace•Persecuted Christians

Israeli Jewish army causes death of Catholic priest in Lebanon and displaces thousands of Catholics from southern Lebanon

Qlayaa is a predominantly Maronite Christian town of about 8,000 residents in southern Lebanon. Like several other villages in the region, it had received evacuation warnings from the Israeli military as fighting intensified between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah.

Mar 11, 2026 17:36

ZENIT Staff

Analysis Opinion•Holy Land•Justice and Peace•Vatican Diplomacy

Vatican questions “preventive” war in Iran as Leo XIV intensifies diplomatic calls for peace

In an interview with Vatican media on March 4, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, offered one of the most detailed assessments yet of the crisis

Mar 08, 2026 07:10

Jorge Enrique Mújica

Holy Land•Justice and Peace

Settlers exploit war in Iran to commit new acts of violence in the West Bank

Two Palestinian brothers were shot dead in a raid in Qaryut, south of Nablus. New attacks and assaults also in the Christian village of Taybeh. Fr Bashar: not isolated incidents, but a ‘growing pattern of violence’ that raises “concerns”. Barriers and isolation, the West Bank increasingly similar to the Strip, victim of ‘state violence’.

Mar 04, 2026 09:33

ZENIT Staff

Under the agreement with China, Leo XIV appoints a new bishop

Chang Yanfeng, 42, was ordained bishop today under the Sino-Holy See agreement to a diocese that has been without its own pastor for 20 years. Just three weeks ago, the new prelate had to publicly commit the local Church to a controversial law designed to eliminate minorities.

Leo XIV encourages religious to view community life as a source of inspiration and sanctification

Message from Leo XIV to the Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s Religious Orders in the United States

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Jerusalem: Holy Week Behind Closed Doors. A Statement from the Catholic Patriarch

Is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre closed? The Catholic Church in the Holy Land issues a statement in response to rumors on social media

A Church Against the Logic of War: Vatican Voices, Middle East Realities, and the Risk of a Vanishing Christianity

Fr Sliman: As war affects daily life in Kuwait, the Church responds to the uncertainty

A Phone Call in Times of War: Pope Leo XIV Answers a Call from the President of Palestine

The Middle East on the Brink of Collapse: Another Call for Peace from the Pope, the Death of a Member of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, and Bombings at Shepherds’ Fields in Bethlehem

The last historic Christian village in the Holy Land, threatened with annexation by the Jewish state of Israel

This was the funeral of the Lebanese Catholic priest who died in Israeli army bombings

Lebanon requests diplomatic mediation from the Vatican to prevent Israel from attacking or displacing Catholic communities in the south of the country

Israeli Jewish army causes death of Catholic priest in Lebanon and displaces thousands of Catholics from southern Lebanon

Vatican questions “preventive” war in Iran as Leo XIV intensifies diplomatic calls for peace

Settlers exploit war in Iran to commit new acts of violence in the West Bank