HOLY LAND: Young Christians will leave as there is ‘no hope’ left
Exactly one year on from the October 7th attacks and amid the spiralling conflict that has followed, young Christians in the Holy Land are feeling hopeless and looking to leave – so says a Catholic agency helping those in great need.
With job opportunities “scarce” at a time of deepening crisis in the region, “it is very difficult” to give young people hope and encourage them to stay in their homeland, according to Dima Khoury, director of social services at the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
She told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): “With no hope, people try to leave.”
Father Louis, who leads the Youth of Jesus’ Homeland (YJH) ministry in Ain Arik, just outside Ramallah in the West Bank, stressed that life is especially challenging for young Christians there.
Father Louis said: “If the Christians leave, the holy places will be like cold and abandoned museums.
“We insist to the young people that they do not emigrate, because Jesus lived and died here.”
Speaking with ACN, Raffi Ghattas, a member of YJH said: “Our first priority in youth ministry is teaching the young people to belong to their land not because they are Palestinian, but because when God decided to become incarnate, He chose this land.
“This is a privilege, but it is also a cross. We are bearing this cross.”
Father Jonny Abu Khalil, who runs a pastoral centre in Haifa, northern Israel told ACN that local Christians have also been suffering from an identity crisis, adding that “the war [has] sparked more separation and discrimination”.
He explained: “Palestinians in Galilee used to feel like Israelis, but now they feel like second-class citizens…
“Their Christian identity is weak, and their national identity is confused – they cannot say they are Palestinians, nor can they say they are Israelis after what happened.”
ACN has been supporting the Holy Land’s Christian community, many of whom used to work in the tourism sector before most pilgrimages were cancelled because of the conflict.
The charity’s help in the region since last October has included emergency aid, food, housing, school fees and medical assistance to hundreds of Christian families, as well as job creation programmes, support for Christian-run organisations and pastoral projects.
ACN has also provided subsistence aid, Mass stipends, transportation, support for church construction projects and help with the formation of priests and religious congregations throughout the Holy Land.
With thanks to Filipe d’Avillez