The war in Iran continues to feature on front pages of international media, but what rarely make the headlines is the situation of the Christians living in the Holy Land.
Most of the Christian community makes a living thanks to pilgrim and tourism revenue, one of their main sources of income. But if the war goes on, very few people will travel to the Holy Land. What then will happen to the Christians?
CARD. FERNANDO FILONI
Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
It’s significant because there are communities, people, families who live here—families who can meet others, pilgrims, and visitors. Without this, what does the Holy Land become? Just a large archaeological area. And I don’t mean only the cultural archaeology of the past. I’m talking about the archaeology of faith. Christians were here. No: Christians are here.
Cardinal Filoni knows the situation in the Holy
Land very well. He identifies three problems among the Christian families living there: work, security, and freedom. These are also three of the the most fundamental and important human rights.
CARD. FERNANDO FILONI
Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Basically, it’s been going on for a few years now. Families are struggling to make a living because there’s no work. Sometimes emigration isn’t just about wanting to leave—it’s a necessity when there’s nothing left to live on. Today, employment is one of the biggest crises facing the Holy Land.
Tensions on the ground have only increased since February 28 when the joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran took place. Conflict continues to break out across the region.
CARD. FERNANDO FILONI
Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
We can’t limit ourselves to just the Holy Land. Even Lebanon, after all, is part of that Holy Land where Jesus went. We can’t ignore or forget Syria—so many from Syria came to encounter Jesus—and if we widen our view even more to the Middle East, it’s a vast area of God’s revelation, where in the Holy Land we witnessed the manifestation of Jesus Christ. So, this crisis pushes us to broaden our horizon a little.
Not a single week has gone by in which Pope Leo XIV has not called for an immediate ceasefire and for dialogue—a message that the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, because of its special connection with the Holy Land, has also embraced as its own.
CARD. FERNANDO FILONI
Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
I lived for several years in these places, including Iraq, where there has been war—places where the hardships of conflict and violence make life truly difficult for people. We also have to ask ourselves: peace must be built. Peace must be cared for and nurtured to grow.
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre has been supporting the Christian holy sites with material, educational, and pastoral aid since the mid-19th century under the papacy of Pius IX.
Sites such as the Holy Sepulchre, the Mount of Olives, and the Via Dolorosa have never before been closed for so long. Many locals are eagerly awaiting their reopening, ready to welcome pilgrims back as soon as possible to the birthplace of Christianity.
