As the war in Gaza shows no sign of stopping, the Church in the Holy Land is increasing help to preserve the region’s Christian presence, supporting hundreds of families who have lost their livelihoods.
ACN has stepped up its support for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem – which includes the Palestinian territories – providing emergency help, food, housing, school fees and medical assistance to more than 600 Christian families.
ACN has also supported job creation programmes and helped Christian-run organisations survive, according to Dima Khoury, head of the patriarchate’s Social Services Department.
Ms Khoury told ACN that Christians in the region “thought the war would stop after five months but it continues. Many Christians lost their jobs, or had their salaries reduced, or live with no income at all.
ACN’s Support to needy Christian families with food coupons during the ongoing war is underscored by the harsh reality that many of them have lost their primary sources of income as a result of the ongoing conflict.
“But life continues, they need to feed their families and pay tuition and rent. Life for them is terrible.”
She said: “The middle class became poor, and the poor have become poorer. Many of the wealthy families, who owned their own businesses, left the country.”
Ms Khoury added: “As the war continues, we begin to worry that the Holy Land will become the next Syria, a never-ending war.”
She said: “The Church continues to serve, to provide help for these families during the war.”
Speaking with ACN, Sami El-Yousef, chief executive officer at the patriarchate’s Social Services Department said that, even though the situation is more serious than first expected, the Christian community has proven to be resilient and able to withstand enormous challenges.
Mr El-Yousef added: “If we focus too much on the political horizon we will just pack up and leave. However, this land has seen lots of crises before, and the Church has always found a way to be the means of support for the community.”
He concluded that, even though the present situation “is more difficult” than before, “the Christian presence will survive”, and the Church will continue “to be present with its institutions”.
