Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti urged the faithful globally to support the annual Good Friday collection for Christians in the Holy Land. The collection is a primary source of support for the Custody of the Holy Land, which safeguards Christian sites and accompanies local communities. Ongoing violence and curtailed pilgrimages have made concrete financial aid essential for the survival and hope of the Christian minority. Donations provide material assistance to those facing war and poverty, and serve as a challenge to the faithful worldwide to avoid inertness regarding global crises.
about 7 hours ago
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, urges global faithful to support the annual Good Friday collection for Holy Land Christians facing extreme peril from ongoing violence.1
He emphasizes concrete financial aid over mere consoling words, as visitors leave while locals endure terror.1
The Christian population has dwindled from 20% in 1948 to under 1.4% today, exacerbated by conflicts starting October 7, 2023, and recent U.S.-Israel escalations against Iran.1
Religious tourism, a key economic pillar, has plummeted due to insecurity, leaving many without livelihoods.1
Despite media claims of peace, shootings, deaths, and emigration persist.1
In 2023, the collection raised 6,571,893 euros ($7.5 million); 65% goes to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, 35% to the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.1
Custody funds include 20% for holy sites maintenance, aid to families, psycho-social support in Gaza (1,000 children, 300 adults), hot meals in Lebanon (500 daily), and low-rent housing to curb emigration.1
Education receives significant investment: over 2 million euros for youth scholarships, support for Bethlehem University (3,300 students), and seminaries.1
Donations challenge the faithful's conscience, promoting sacrifice amid a "world in flames" to avoid complicity.1
Pope Leo XIV stresses unity for true peace, not truces or armaments.1
A Holy Land without Christians means losing the living memory of salvation.1
Bishops are asked to foster awareness that giving signals faith.1
Additional contributions include prayers, new vocations, and pilgrimages to sustain holy places and foster peace.1
Even small amounts prevent the "ocean" of support from becoming a desert.1
Support for Christian sites in the Holy Land must be sustained
The Catholic Church has long emphasized the vital importance of sustaining support for Christian sites and communities in the Holy Land, viewing them as the living heritage of Christ's Incarnation and the cradle of the faith. This commitment, rooted in centuries of Franciscan custody and reinforced by papal mandates, addresses ongoing challenges like conflict, emigration, and economic hardship, calling for global solidarity through prayer, pilgrimage, and financial aid such as the Good Friday Collection.
Since 1219, the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) has maintained a continuous presence in the Holy Land, entrusted by Pope Gregory IX in 1230 and formally confirmed by Pope Clement VI's Bull Gratiam agimus in 1342. This "custody of the Holy Land" involves safeguarding holy places, providing shelter for pilgrims, and enduring persecutions, including massacres by invaders like the Khorasmians in 1244. The Franciscans recovered key sites amid turmoil, establishing convents, parishes, and schools across Jerusalem, Syria, and Egypt—totaling 58 convents, 46 parishes, and 942 religious by the early 20th century.
This mission extended to broader pastoral works: parishes, schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, and aid for migrants and refugees, all centered on the Incarnation's sacred sites. Popes have praised this fidelity, noting how the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem collaborates with the Franciscan Custody to protect shrines and assist pilgrims, a privilege dating to the 14th century.
Multiple popes have issued urgent appeals to sustain this presence, framing it as a duty of the universal Church. Pope Saint Paul VI instituted the annual Good Friday Collection (or on a local equivalent date) specifically to fund these initiatives, a practice reiterated amid modern crises. In 2025, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches described the Collection as an "essential resource" post-pandemic, when pilgrimages halted, forcing many Christians into exile and threatening their survival. It urged bishops to prioritize it as a "pastoral priority," avoiding parallel efforts, to support communities offering "perennial praise to the God-with-us."
Pope John Paul II repeatedly stressed this: in 1997, he highlighted the Diocese's role in preserving holy places alongside Franciscans; in 1998 and 2004, he called for charity via ROACO (Reunión de Obras para las Iglesias Orientales) and the Good Friday Collection to foster reconciliation amid violence. He addressed the "dramatic" plight of Christians crushed by extremisms, affirming the Holy See's commitment to their millenary presence. Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lamented Christian emigration as a "great cultural and spiritual impoverishment," insisting "in the Holy Land there is room for everyone" and pledging the Church's solidarity.
Even Pope Leo XIV, in his 2025 Apostolic Letter on Christian archaeology, connected historical memory to hope amid wars, indirectly underscoring the need to preserve sites illuminating faith.
Today's Holy Land faces "new Calvary" trials: wars, destruction, hatred, and a humanitarian crisis exacerbating emigration, especially among youth. Christians, numbering around 74,779 Latin Rite Catholics in key areas, endure separation walls, economic devastation, and violence, yet maintain hope through education (e.g., Bethlehem University) and interreligious cooperation. Episcopal conferences, like the USCCB, urge prayer, pilgrimage, U.S. policy advocacy for peace, and funding to bolster governance and aid.
Lay orders play key roles: the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Vatican's sole lay institution for the Latin Patriarchate, funds charitable, cultural, and social works to propagate faith and uphold Church rights. ROACO coordinates global aid, linking charity to ecclesial life.
| Organization | Primary Role in Holy Land Support | Key Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Franciscan Custody | Custody of holy sites, parishes, schools, aid | |
| Good Friday Collection | Annual funding for communities and sites | |
| Equestrian Order of Holy Sepulchre | Financial aid to Latin Patriarchate | |
| ROACO & Episcopal Conferences | Coordination, advocacy, humanitarian aid |
Sustaining support for Christian sites in the Holy Land is not optional but a profound act of communion with Christ's origins, countering despair with hope as in Ezekiel's vision of dry bones revived. Through historical fidelity, papal mandates, and organized charity, the Church calls all faithful to contribute generously—via collections, pilgrimages, and prayer—to ensure this "precious presence... dates back directly to the time of Jesus."