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The Latest Breaking News from the Holy Land

How the first Bible to include a map helped spread the idea of countries with borders

Five hundred years ago the first Bible featuring a map was published. The anniversary has passed uncelebrated, but it transformed the way that Bibles were produced. The map appeared in Christopher Froschauer’s 1525 Old Testament, which was published in Zürich and widely distributed in 16th-century central Europe.

The Conversation

The West Bank's dwindling Palestinian Christian communities, in photos

Christians who are proudly Palestinian and live in the occupied West Bank continue to find hope in Sunday worship as they wish for independence and peace in the Holy Land, even as they struggle with growing violence from Israeli settlers, restrictions on daily life imposed by Israel and fears of…

The Independent UK

Mark Twain's Travel Log From the Holy Land

Christianity would be wonderful, Twain suggests in The Innocents Abroad, if it weren't for Christians.

Reason

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Top Holy Land Clerics Visit Gaza After Deadly Church Strike

Two of the most senior Christian leaders in the Holy Land travelled to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation.

International Business Times

Luce, a cartoon mascot for Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee, appeals to a younger generation while embracing time-honored traditions

Luce, the anime-inspired official mascot for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee, whose name means “light” in Italian, has been getting a lot of attention on social media. Some people love the cartoon and find her “cute,” but a few others consider her “unsuitable” and even “repugnant.”

The Conversation

Pope Francis Removes Keffiyeh From Vatican Nativity Scene

Pope Francis oversaw a Nativity scene with a keffiyeh-draped manger, sparking discussions on symbolism and tradition in the Holy Land.

Top News

Gaza War Makes For Sombre Christmas In The Holy Land

Sadness over the war in Gaza subdued the holiday cheer in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, when the biblical town would usually be decked out in festive finery.

International Business Times

Jerusalem’s Santa Claus Spreads Hope And Joy Amidst War And Pandemic

Issa Anis Kassissieh, the only certified Santa in the Holy Land, brings cheer to a stressed city

Zenger

OPINION - It is the Christmas meme of memes, but not like you know it: all hail the Nativity, invented by St Francis

THE Christmas crib is 800 years old. That’s right, the Nativity scene with ox, ass and manger wasn’t always a thing. It was the genius idea of St Francis of Assisi, who had returned from the Holy Land and thought to himself that the landscape around Greccio, near Assisi, was…

Evening Standard

Palestinian Christians call on Justin Welby to ‘speak truth to power’

Letter to archbishop of Canterbury expresses concern about Anglican leaders’ support for UK stance on Israel-Hamas war

The Guardian - UK

Justin Welby accused of ‘relegating’ plight of Palestinian Christians

Anglicans in West Bank say they are ‘utterly perplexed’ by archbishop of Canterbury’s statements on Israel-Hamas war

The Guardian - UK

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WEKU

For Palestinian Christians, a Sunday spent mourning civilians killed at a Gaza church

Services across the Holy Land memorialized the Palestinian civilians killed Thursday when an Israeli airstrike hit the Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza City, where some 400 people were sheltering.

Zenger

Israeli President Decries Hate Crimes Against Christians

Isaac Herzog on Wednesday condemned recent hate crimes against Christians in the Holy Land, and pledged to uproot the phenomenon

LiveScience

1st-century coins from Jewish revolt against the Romans discovered near the Black Sea

Roman soldiers took coins minted by Jewish rebels in the Holy Land with them to a military camp in Georgia.

The Week

Saint Francis of Assisi review: exhibition chronicles his presence in art

It has been argued that the Italian Renaissance was “ignited by a single spark in the form of one man”, said Harry Seymour on Air Mail: Saint Francis of Assisi. Born into wealth in Umbria around 1181, Francis experienced a vision that led him to swap his “lavish lifestyle” for…

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Chicago Tribune

Commentary: Violence casts a shadow over holidays in the Holy Land. Will it fuel a new intifada?

Holy days in the Holy Land should be sacred refuges from escalating tensions and violence, but ironically, they are often just the opposite, producing some of the brutal hell that especially torments Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.

The Independent UK

Why do Jerusalem tensions fuel regionwide unrest?

It’s become something of a grim, springtime tradition in the Holy Land

Asharq Al-Awsat

Vatican: Sharp Rise in Assaults on Christian Religious Men in Jerusalem

Father Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land and Guardian of Mount Zion, has urged the Israeli government to hold aggressors accountable in the wake of the sharp rise in attacks on Christian religious figures and holy sites in Old Jerusalem by extremist Jewish settlers.

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