Please scroll down for photographs of Bethlehem and The Church of the Nativity
University president, Brother Vincent Malham, FSC, RIP
Brother Vincent Malham. FSC, Memorial
According to Agenzia Fides, Holy Land Catholic
Communications Centre has opened in Jerusalem for the
purpose of contributing to the spread of "correct and authentic
reports on the situation in the Holy Land in response to the Church’s
essential mission of announcing the Truth." The Holy Land
Catholic Communications Centre will report in English, Italian, French,
Arabic, and Hebrew, and is headed by Comboni Missionary Father Giuseppe
Caramazza who said, "This centre is at the service of the various
expressions of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.”
Holy Land:
UK watchdog asks Israel to withdraw misleading tourism ad
WQXR, a radio station in
New York City owned by the New York Times newspaper, has refused to
run an American
Jewish Committee advertisement. Here is the AJC's
response:
Press Releases Executive Director's
Blog: WQXR Refuses to Air AJC Message on Sderot
What happens when the shoe’s on the
other foot?
American Jewish Committee
April 5, 2008
A small but influential chorus of
American voices has made a mantra out of the notion that criticism of
Israel is stifled by the pro-Israel community.
Indeed, when NYU professor Tony Judt’s
lecture at the Polish Consulate in New York was canceled in 2006 by the
consul general because Poland did not subscribe to Judt’s view of a
one-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a group of
intellectuals rushed to his defense. In a widely-publicized petition,
they asserted that "We are united in believing that a climate of
intimidation is inconsistent with fundamental principles of debate in a
democracy. The Polish Consulate is not obliged to promote free
speech. But the rules of the game in America oblige citizens to
encourage rather than stifle debate.”
Let’s set aside the absurdity of the
entire effort. After all, Judt had given countless lectures before that
October date, not to mention his articles on the subject in the New
York Review of Books and elsewhere. None of his defenders could cite
a second instance of ”intimidation,” nor, for that matter, would
they be able to cite an instance since then, either. In fact, Judt’s
meeting was moved to a different venue in New York and that was that.
But there’s another side to the
coin. While Judt and his erstwhile supporters, joined by Jimmy Carter,
Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, have been making their case about
their inability to be heard – ironically, in think tanks, universities
and media outlets only too happy to have them speak out about how they
cannot speak out – some are trying to silence a very different
viewpoint.
On behalf of AJC, I do a weekly
national 60-second radio spot. The time is purchased as any
advertisement would be. For the past nearly seven years, it has been
broadcast across the United States on the CBS radio network, on hundreds
of stations, without incident.
Earlier this year, we expanded the
reach by adding in the New York area WQXR, a popular classical music
station owned by the New York Times.
For the week of March 31, here was the
text to be aired:
Fifteen seconds. Imagine you had
fifteen seconds to find shelter from an incoming missile. Fifteen
seconds to locate your children, help an elderly relative, assist a
disabled person to find shelter.
That's all the residents of Sderot
and neighboring Israeli towns have.
Day or night, the sirens go on.
Fifteen seconds later, the missiles, fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza,
hit. They could hit a home, a school, a hospital. Their aim is to kill
and wound and demoralize.
Imagine yourself in that situation.
The sirens blast. 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The
time to seek shelter has ended.
The missiles hit.
This is what Israelis experience
daily. But, amazingly, they refuse to be cowed. Help us help those
Israelis. Visit ajc.org.
The spot was broadcast several times,
as is customary, on the CBS radio network, but WQXR refused to do so.
Here’s the written explanation from
Tom Bartunek, president of New York Times Radio and general manager of
WQXR:
”In my judgement several elements of
this spot are outside our bounds of acceptability. First, the opening
line— `Imagine you had fifteen seconds to find shelter from an
oncoming missile’—does not make clear that the potential target of
the missile is not our listening area, and as a consequence, runs the
risk of raising anxiety in a misleading way. Second, the description of
the missiles as arriving `day or night’ and `daily’ is also subject
to challenge as being misleading, at least to the degree that reasonable
people might be troubled by the absence of any acknowledgement of
reciprocal Israeli military actions. Finally, in my judgement the
`countdown’ device and the general tone of the message do not meet our
guidelines for decorum.”
Stunning, above all, is the reference
to "the absence of any acknowledgement of reciprocal Israeli
military actions.”
In other words, according to Bartunek’s
logic, the only way to broadcast the plight of Sderot’s residents over
the airwaves is to equate Israel’s right of self-defense with Hamas’s
and Islamic Jihad’s right to strike Israel at will.
Notice I didn’t say ”day or night”
or ”daily” this time, because that might be construed as ”misleading.”
Next time I’m in Sderot, I’ll be sure to let its residents know they
have less to worry about than they thought because, according to some in
the United States, their attackers keep banker’s hours. Meanwhile,
Bartunek ought to read about the situation in Sderot in the April 5
front-page article in the paper that owns his station.
In a subsequent phone conversation
with one of my AJC colleagues, Bartunek went further. He explained that
the radio station does not run ads with sirens or gun shots, neither of
which was included in our spots, nor does it carry spots about ”hemorrhoid
cream or sexual potency pills.”
Well, that certainly helps clarify
matters about rejecting a spot that sought to draw attention to innocent
people under rocket attack who might need understanding and support.
I can only imagine what would have
been the response had we done a spot during the London blitz. Would it
have been turned down as well, perhaps on the grounds that we failed to
refer to reciprocal British military actions against Nazi Germany?
Lest anyone think this was an isolated
incident, a similar incident occurred with the same station in 2001,
leading us to cancel our contract. We had resumed years later in the
mistaken belief that things would be different.
Here’s the 2001 text:
No one is born hating, but too many
are taught to hate.
One thing we've learned since
September 11th is that in some unexpected places, children are taught to
hate us.
Recently, The New York Times
(October 19, 2001) reported that in Saudi Arabia, tenth graders are
warned of "the dangers of having Christian and Jewish
friends," and in Pakistan, a million children attending religious
schools are taught to "distrust and even hate the United
States." (October 14, 2001)
Our planet is increasingly crowded
– six billion people practicing hundreds of faiths and identifying
with countless ethnic backgrounds.
Either we all learn to respect one
another, or else we'll be doomed to more deadly acts inspired by blind
hatred.
Our government needs to begin
addressing this pressing challenge abroad, starting with those nations
ostensibly close to our own.
Meanwhile, here at home, let's
continue to show the world what mutual respect and understanding are
really all about.
At the time, two months after the
September 11th attacks, the WQXR station manager cited the third
paragraph as particularly objectionable. When we noted that the quotes
were taken from the New York Times—again, the newspaper which owns the
radio station—we were told that the language did not meet the station’s
standards. And, yes, we were lumped in then, too, with hemorrhoids.
The suppressing of our message doesn’t
end with the New York Times-owned station.
A week before the most recent incident
with WQXR, I recorded another spot. It ran without any problem on CBS
nationwide and, interestingly, WQXR broadcast it as well. But this time
Bloomberg radio, a financial news station in New York, refused. AJC
began airing the weekly spots on Bloomberg in January. (By the way,
though the station carries his name, I am certain that Mayor Michael
Bloomberg was unaware of the decision made by station officials.)
Here’s the full message:
No one is born hating. Children are
taught to hate.
AJC has sponsored studies of
textbooks in Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, for
example, children are taught to hate people of other faiths. This
teaching, we found, permeates the schools.
Now we've released a study on
Palestinian textbooks. Once again, the picture isn't pretty. The
textbooks largely fail to recognize Israel. Israeli cities are described
as Palestinian.
Jewish holy places are presented as
Muslim holy places taken over by the Jews—odd, considering that
Judaism preceded Islam by more than 1,500 years.
As early as the seventh grade,
Palestinian children are taught to demonize the 'other,' meaning the
Jew. And no, there's no comparable negative teaching in Israeli schools
about Arab or Islamic societies.
For those who pray for peace, it
begins with children. They should be taught respect for others, not
contempt. That's how peace begins.
Everything written in this spot was
verifiable. It was drawn, as noted, from a new study of Palestinian
textbooks in which AJC was involved. Precisely because we knew
this study, like its three predecessors, would be scrutinized
microscopically by those seeking to discredit it, every translation from
Arabic was reviewed by top experts in the field to ensure total
accuracy. And the study itself, available at www.ajc.org, reflects
context, nuance, and precision of language.
Yet, all this wasn’t good enough for
the station, which, without putting anything down on paper, asserted
that there were some questions about what was being said.
Actually, a few days later the New
York Times had a front-page story on anti-Semitism, not
anti-Israelism, in Gaza and made essentially the same point that schools
are a key transmission belt for such hatred and incitement.
We canceled our contract with
Bloomberg. Our right to express our point of view – with an ironclad
commitment in our texts to responsible messaging – was being stifled
by those who, for whatever political or commercial reasons, were
unwilling to allow us that right.
I wonder if some of those same
academic and cultural leading lights – from the United States, United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel and Norway – who rushed to Judt’s
side might be similarly disposed to support ”the rules of the game in
America” for us as well.
After all, fair’s fair,
isn’t it?
Interview with Archbishiop Michel Sabbath
Caritas Jerusalem
Report
There was an increase in the number of
obstacles restricting freedom of movement in the West Bank
580 as of February 2008.
Prior monthly averages of the number of
obstacles:
472 in 2005
518 in 2006
552 in 2007
Between 1 January - 11 March 08:
259 Palestinians (43 children) and 14
Israelis (4 children) were killed
767 Palestinians (181 children) and 103
Israelis (5 children) were injured
In the West Bank trends show:
Increases in the number of Palestinian
structures demolished
Increasing trends in IDF search
operations
Increased use of curfews on Palestinian
villages
In the Gaza Strip, sanitation
authorities are dumping 60,000 cubic meters of sewage (20,000 cubic
meters raw, 40,000 cubic meters partially treated) into the sea as a
result of fuel, electrical and spare parts shortages
West Bank Procession Participants Want Freedom of
Worship, Movement
In his Sunday, March 9, 2008, general
audience, Pope Benedict XVI: "In recent days, violence and
horror have again bloodied the Holy Land fostering a spiral of destruction
and death that seems to have no end. As I call upon you to ask the
all-powerful Lord, insistently, for the gift of peace for this region, I
desire to entrust to His mercy the many innocent victims and to express
solidarity to the families and the wounded. I encourage, moreover the
Israeli and Palestinian authorities in their intention of continuing to
build through negotiation a peaceful and just future for their peoples,
and I ask all, in the name of God, to leave the tortuous paths of hatred
and vengeance and to travel responsibly the paths of dialogue and
trust."
Vatican on Holy See/Israeli
negotiations on taxing the Catholic Church and confiscation of Catholic
Church property: “The Holy See is not asking for privileges.
We are asking in the name of the Catholic Church that the rights enjoyed
until now by Christian residents in that very special land are
implemented. And this is being asked because it is a question of life or
death. If the Catholic communities in the Holy Land have to be subject to
the obligation of taxes, they will gradually disappear. An agreement
has to be found because we are not at loggerheads. Everybody realizes the
importance and the value of the Christian presence including the Israeli
authorities. Therefore we have to reach harmony between the different
forces in the field. I have to say that there is real collaboration to
find solutions that are satisfactory for both.”
One Christian in Bethlehem
Bishop William Kenney CP,
Archdiocese of Birmingham [England] after his visit to Beit Sahour
Parish in Bethlehem: "It is now impossible to visit the Holy
Land without being aware of the 'security wall' as it is called. Many of
us find that wall an insult to human dignity."
When Pope Benedict XVI meets with U. S.
President George W. Bush on April 16, the pope's 81st birthday,
the discussion will "include advancing peace throughout the Middle
East and other troubled regions, promoting interfaith understanding, and
strengthening human rights and freedom, especially religious liberty,
around the world."
Eliana Aponte/Reuters
Snowing in Jerusalem
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the
Congregation for Eastern Churches, on the worldwide Good Friday Collection
for the Holy Land: "The Good Friday Collection has a special
relevance. Successive Pontiffs have indicated the appropriateness of
this day to attest to our common heritage of that land which, in the
course of history, abides as a 'silent witness to the Savior’s life upon
earth,' to cite an expression preferred by Pope Benedict XVI. It is
my fervent plea that every local church shall participate in the effort to
further our commitment to charity. The Congregation for Eastern Churches,
by virtue of papal directive, coordinates this initiative, and does so
with exactitude and fairness. Always, the goal is to assist with the
everyday requirements of Christian life."
Although the Israeli Ministry of the
Interior has agreed to provide multiple-entry visas to "high-ranking
Church personnel" if the Church provides a list in advance to be
"checked and approved," Archbishop Antonio Franco responded by
stating that he "was not fully pleased with the changes. Even
parish priests need to move around. In the Latin patriarchate they
have many meetings and pastoral duties and do not fit as VIPs. The
practicality is not there."
USCCB: "The split in Palestinian governance
between the West Bank and Gaza is incompatible with a durable peace
agreement."
Archbishop Michel Sabbah, Patriarch of
Jerusalem, and the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions, met
with Pope Benedict XVI and discussed the plight of Christians in the Holy
Land during their regular five-year ad limina visit. Said
Pope Benedict XVI: "I wish to restate my solidarity with those people
in your regions who suffer so many forms of violence. You may count
on the solidarity of the universal Church. I appeal to the wisdom of
all men and women of good will, especially to those who have leadership
roles in the life of society, to favor dialogue between the parties, that
violence may cease, authentic lasting peace may be created everywhere, and
relationships of solidarity and collaboration may be established."
Israeli Embassy in Rome to the
Vatican: "Recognizing the importance of Christian communities
in Israel and with the objective of ultimately improving the relationship
between Israel and the Holy See, Israeli authorities, and in particular
the Minister of the Interior, Meir Shitrit, have proposed some easing up
in the issue of visas for Church personnel in Israel."
Kevin Frayer/Pool
U. S. President Geroge W. Bush at the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
English and Canadian bishops on their
visit to the Holy Land: "It is a very delicate moment. There is
this possibility of things happening while at the same time we are aware
that on the ground there are some very serious problems. We see the
security wall and the settlements." The bishops were "very
surprised at the control of movement," and said of the continued
building of settlements on Palestinian territory by Israel, "That is
not a gesture of good faith."
In his Sunday, January 13, general
audience on World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Benedict XVI:
"There are numerous young people who are forced for various reasons
to live far from their families and countries. Girls and minors are
especially at risk. Some children and adolescents are born and grow up in
refugee camps. They too have a right to a future."
Reuters
U. S. President George W. Bush exiting
the Door of Humility at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Pope Benedict XVI in his 2008 New Year's
Day homily: "May the peace proclaimed by the angels at
Bethlehem take ever deeper root in men's hearts and inspire the whole
human family to live in harmony, justice and fraternal solidarity."
Tourists returned to Bethlehem for
Christmas 2007. All 200 hotel rooms at the Intercontinental Hotel
were booked for Christmas and New Year's compared with 10 rooms in 2006,
and the parking lot of the Paradise Hotel was full. Souvenir store
owner Mary Giacaman of Holy Land Arts Museum said, "It is better than
last year, better than the last few years, so of course we feel
happy."
Relics from the crib of the Baby
Jesus, brought to Rome from Palestine by Pope Theodore I in 642 and now
located at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, are deteriorating alarmingly,
so the 2007 Christmas Day display on the altar was forgone.
Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuters
Madonna and Child in the Church of the
Nativity
Saint Nicholas
Middle Eastern
envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was received in full
communion with the Roman Catholic Church on December 22, at Mass at the
Archbishop's House by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of the Archdiocese
of Westminster. "I am very glad to
welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church. For a long time he has
been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family, and in recent months he
has been following a programme of formation to prepare for his reception
into full communion. My prayers are with him, his wife and family at
this joyful moment in their journey of faith together." Mr. Blair's wife and four children were born into the
faith.
Australian bishops on their recent trip
to the Holy Land: "We saw and heard evidence of systematic
harassment, physical and psychological oppression, widespread
unemployment, poverty, and economic deprivation, resulting directly or
indirectly from Israeli military occupation of the West Bank. Their
suffering compels us to respond, and we assure Palestinians of our
compassion and concern."
In his Christmas 2007 message, Latin
Patriarch for the Holy Land Michel Sabbah said: "This land cannot be
excluded for anyone, it belongs to three religions, without excluding one
religion or the other. That's why establishing a religious state,
with a Jewish or Muslim religious character, would exclude the other
religion and would treat unjustly the believers of other religions."
Vatican has announced
that Pope Benedict XVI will not visit the Holy Land in 2008 because the
recent plenary meeting with Israel failed to resolve outstanding
issues. "As long as we talk about God, about peace, the
promotion of the rights of women and other human rights, it is easy to
reach agreement. But when we start discussing the details, and I
refer in particular to the issue of taxes, then differences emerge,"
said Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, Secretary of the Congregation for
the Oriental Churches. The next meeting between the Holy See and
Israel is scheduled for May, 2008. More
In his Sunday, December 16, 2007, general
audience, Pope Benedict XVI:
The mystery of Bethlehem reveals God among us, the God
who is near to us not only in the sense of time or place. He is
near to us because he married our humanity. He took our condition
on choosing to be like us in every way except in sin so that we could
become like Him. Christian joy therefore lies in this certainty:
God is at hand, is with me in joy and sorrow, in sickness and in health
like a friend and faithful spouse. This joy remains even in the
face of trials and sorrow but not only on the surface. It is a joy
that lies in the deepest innermost heart of the person who entrusts
himself to God and confides in Him.
Vintage Jerusalem Photograph
Emilio Morenaatti/Pool
Middle Eastern envoy and former British
Prime Minister Tony Blair stands in front of a model of The Church of the
Nativity. Tony Blair was in Bethlehem to attend a Chamber of Commerce
meeting.
New plenary meeting (and little hope) in Holy
See-Israel negotiations
Debbie Hill/CNS
Milk Grotto in the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem where the Blessed Mother stopped to nurse the Baby
Jesus on the Holy Family's flight to Egypt
Shawqi Jabriel Armali, Director of the
Office of Representation to the Holy See of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization, on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has asked the Vatican for an active presence in the Middle East peace talks.
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the
Congregation for Eastern Churches, said, "The Holy Land is everyone's
land. It is the family from which we come. It's the home that has to
be maintained and loved."
National Geographic Bethlehem
Reuters
Bethlehem wall mural by British street
artist Banksy
Debbie Hill/CNS
Mr. Francis Morat lights a candle at
Saint Catherine Church in Bethlehem
The Holy See sent two representatives to
the Annapolis Peace Conference; Monsignor Pietro Parolin who is
Undersecretary for Relations with States at the Vatican Secretariat of
State and Monsignor Franco Coppola who is a counselor at the Office of the
Nunciature. Monsignor Pietro Parolin's assessment of the Annapolis
Peace Conference: "We went to Annapolis with a glimmer of hope
for peace for two peoples who are dear to us and who see their most basic
rights threatened. The two sides are ready to negotiate directly and
to involve Syria, Lebanon, and the other Arab nations in a global peace
process. The meetings took place in a climate of trust which must be
protected and increased."
Commentary on Annapolis Peace
Conference: Once Again, Hopes for Peace
Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the
Pontifical Council for Migrants: "...like all other refugees,
Palestinians have a right to return."
“Everyone can see how much faith can be
placed in Israel’s promises,” said Mgr. Pietro Sambi, former Nuncio to
Israel, regarding the Holy See and Israel's Fundamental Agreement signed
in 1993. More
What a Catholic Christmas gift!
Wine from the Salesians in Bethlehem
Getting a Master's Degree in Bethlehem Isn't Easy
Private security firms
are taking over Israeli checkpoints from the soldiers. "Room
3" is where Palestinians are striped searched and made to wait for
hours. More
Franciscans open sports center in Bethlehem
Irish Bishops' Conference: "Where
there is evidence of systematic abuse of human rights on a large scale, as
in the Occupied Territories, there are questions that must be asked
concerning the appropriateness of maintaining close business, cultural,
and commercial links with Israel. We are calling for an end to
restrictions on family reunification and an end to humiliating treatment
of people at checkpoints."
Catholic ear, nose and throat surgeon,
Victor Batarseh, is Mayor of Bethlehem.
Mayor Batarseh has held dual U. S. citizenship for 20 years, once living
in Sacramento, California. He has three children, all living in the
U. S. Mayor Batarseh had a clinic in Bethlehem which he closed
upon becoming mayor. Mayor Batarseh is a
socialist, and his top priorities are to build a slaughterhouse in
Bethlehem, fix the streets of Bethlehem for tourism, and build a library
in Bethlehem. Mayor Batarseh is only the third mayor of Bethlehem in
three decades. Because of the lack of tourism
due to civil unrest, Israeli travel restrictions, and the Israeli-built
wall which separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem, Bethlehem's per capita
income has dropped from $2,700/year five years ago to $400/year today with
unemployment at 50%. By law, 8 of
Bethlehem's 15 council members must be Christian including Bethlehem's
mayor and deputy mayor.
Israel is building a wall through the homes and
land of Catholics in Bethlehem and The Holy Land separating the Way of the
Cross and is confiscating Catholic Church property, including land used by
a Catholic orphanage, and is denying the Church's right to a court hearing
to challenge the taking of Catholic Church property.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of the
Archdiocese of Westminster: "How sad it is that Christians in Bethlehem feel compelled to leave the land
of their birth for foreign lands on account of the political situation in
the Holy Land. How tragic that as a result of all the violence perpetrated
there, the little town of Christ's birth is corralled, blocked in by a
wall and checkpoints. Borders have been redrawn, families have been
separated, and ancient landmarks have been lost to the town. Commerce and
tourism have been decimated, unemployment has led to an exodus of
citizens, most of them Christians."
Getting from here to there in The Holy Land
"This wall must not exist," said Father Michel Sabbah,
the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem referring to the wall which Israel built
separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Father Sabbah said the wall has
made Bethlehem an "immense prison."
Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and President of Bethlehem University: "My
jurisdiction is Palestine, Israel and Jordan, and I feel a deep sense of
responsibility toward people in all of those countries. Permits. They need
a permit to get into and out of Bethlehem, to go to work, to go to
Jerusalem to pray, to go to the airport or the hospital or to Bethlehem
University. Our priests cannot make a spiritual retreat because they
cannot get around the country."
Life in Bethlehem for Catholics has
become especially difficult as civil strife has caused Catholic tourism to
almost disappear resulting in great hardship for Catholic Bethlehem
artisans whose tourism-dependent income has dropped 90% in recent years.
Those pilgrims who have tried to visit
Bethlehem, including Catholic clergy, most especially Asian and African
clergy and religious, have been denied visas, some at the Israeli
airport. Israeli Tourism has said it would ease restrictions to
encourage tourism to Bethlehem. Bethlehem's flagship Paradise Hotel
reopened and hotel occupancy rates were around 20% for Christmas 2004, a
welcome increase from the prior few years.
Your support of the Bethlehem Catholic
artisans below will help provide income to the Bethlehem artisans.
Bethlehem Bible Artists is managed by a Franciscan priest from The Church
of the Nativity.
Bethlehem Olive Wood Supplies
Bethlehem Bible Artists
Nativity Housing Project in Bethlehem is
a newly-completed 52-unit complex sponsored by the Latin Patriarchate of
Jerusalem in which each family pays $10,000 to $15,000 as a down payment
and $250-$350 a month for 15 to 20 years and then owns the
apartment. The land was donated by the Deutsch Order and the Sisters
of the Annunciation. Mortgages are not a part of Palestinian society
so families that were chosen are those Catholics who would not be able to
purchase a house outright. "It's a new life for us."
Since 1618 the popes have dedicated Good
Friday to prayer and almsgiving to the Catholic community in The Holy
Land.
Saint Jerome lived
in Bethlehem for the last 34 years of his life.
Copyright © 1999 Bethlehem.org
Pope John Paul II
Olive Branch
Copyright © 1999 Bethlehem.org
Bethlehem Skyline
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
Bethlehem Mountainside
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
The Church of the Nativity
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
The
Church of the Nativity
Door of Humility
The Church
of the Nativity Christmas Pilgrims
The Church of the Nativity
Procession
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
The Church of the Nativity Creche
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
The Church of the Nativity
Birthplace of the Baby Jesus
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
Inside The Church of the Nativity
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
Cloister
Copyright © 2001 Bethlehem.org
Grotto of Milk
(Where the First Family rested)
We wish to thank Father Issa of The Church
of the Nativity and Father
Labib Kobti for permission to use photographs in this section.
Copyright
© 2003 Bethlehem University
Bethlehem University
30th Anniversary Celebration
October 3, 2003
New President of Bethlehem University
Replica of The Church of the Nativity
Handcarved from olive wood by Catholic
Bethlehem artisans
24" x 24" U.S.
$1,400
Admin@bibleartists.com
Salesians in Bethlehem
Catholics leaving Bethlehem
United Nations Report on Bethlehem
Franciscan
Foundation for The Holy Land
