"Death to Christians": Concern in the Holy Land over rising attacks on Churches

On February 2, a man entered the Church of the Flagellation in the Old City of Jerusalem and knocked down a statue of Jesus. 

The Franciscans that take care of pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land made a statement denouncing the five attacks carried out against Christian sites in recent weeks. For example, on the walls of a monastery in the Armenian quarter, graffiti was written saying "death to Christians" and the Maronite community center of Ma'alot has been vandalized.

From the Holy Land, the Franciscans expressed their concern about the increase of tensions in the whole region, as Pope Francis did at the January 29 Angelus.

POPE FRANCIS
With great sorrow, I learned of the news of the Holy Land.
The spiral of death that increases day by day only destroys the small glimmer of trust that exists between the two nations.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has called upon local authorities to take appropriate action to ensure the safety of the Christian community in the face of increasing violence.

PA
TR: OJ