The statement from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land on 27 December said it was “precisely in this context that God’s word and the Jubilee year itself invite us to rediscover hope”, offering a time of “personal and communal spiritual renewal” where “prisoners are set free, debts are forgiven, reconciliation with God and neighbour is experienced, peace is lived with all and justice is promoted”.
The bishops identified signs of hope in “the yearning for peace in our communities” and said that even the small Christian community in Gaza “have not been infected by the logic of hatred and enmity”.
They said the welcome offered to migrants, displaced persons and refugees showed “the welcoming and caring face of the Christian community that knows how to overcome the horizons of religious nationalism in order to live out openness to catholicity, that is, universality”.
They praised young couples who “have chosen to form a family, get married and stay in this land of ours”.
They saw hope too in the witness of priests and religious sharing the sufferings of the people, and in “the closeness of Pope Francis toward all the peoples involved in the conflict and particularly toward the Christians of the Holy Land”.
The statement continued: “We have also been sustained in hope by the many appeals that both the Holy See and also bishops’ conferences and sister Churches have constantly raised to call for the cessation of wars and the peaceful resolution of conflicts through negotiation and the instruments of diplomacy.”
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth on 29 December to open the Jubilee. On 1 January he presided at Mass in the Pro-Cathedral of the Latin Patriarchate for the World Day of Peace and the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God.
Cardinal Pizzaballa said that both political and religious institutions face significant challenges in achieving just peace in a world burdened by conflicts, suggesting that “the aspirations of nations for peace clash with the discouraging reality of a lack of an inspiring figure to help us build relationships characterised by justice and dignity for all.” He prayed for direction, “guiding us on the path of becoming peacemakers in this world”.
On 28 December, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, churches across the region remembered children killed in war, particularly the 8,000 who have died in the Holy Land since October 2023. At an ecumenical prayer service at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, children placed hearts made from olive wood in a display representing each child killed.
In Gaza, the Holy Family Catholic Church commemorated the journey of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph through Gaza for safety in Egypt after King Herod ordered the massacre of infants in Bethlehem.
On Sunday, UNRWA reported that “cold weather and lack of shelter are causing the deaths of newborns in Gaza”, following the eighth death of a baby this winter.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has killed over 200 people in Gaza since Christmas, facing mounting international condemnation.
The World Food Programme criticised IDF troops who fired on one of its marked food convoys near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on Sunday.
Three vehicles carrying eight staff members were hit by at least 16 bullets, despite having all the necessary clearances, “putting the lives of our staff at tremendous risk and leaving the vehicles immobilised”, it said.
In the West Bank, records showed 2024 was the worst year of Israeli settler violence since the UN records began.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded around 1,400 incidents across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
This week, in response, more than 100 rabbis, volunteers and other activists joined Rabbis for Human Rights to plant 1,000 olive trees with 12 Palestinian communities across the West Bank, despite harassment from settlers.