Christians leaving Bethlehem ‘deserted,’ Franciscan leader reports
August 12, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: At least 175 Christian families have left Bethlehem since October 2023, and “the city is dead” because pilgrims are not visiting the birthplace of Jesus, reports Father Ibrahim Faitas, the deputy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
“Everyone is afraid of everyone else,” in a climate of conflict on the West Bank, Father Faitas told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. “The Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians are suffering.”
Unemployment has reached critical levels in a city that relies on tourism, the Franciscan cleric reports. He fears that the situation could worsen if Israel follows through with as plan to occupy all of Gaza, and “we will see even greater destruction, even if that is difficult to imagine.”
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