Israel

• A few numbers
• 150 000 Chrétiens
• 2 % de chrétiens
• 19 Communautés aidées
• 293,135 € Montant de l'aide versée par l’Œuvre d’Orient

• Population: 8,847,000 (413 inhabitants per km²)

 

• Official language: Hebrew

 

• Form of government: Parliamentary republic (Reuven Rivlin)

 

 

 

Israel and Eastern Christians

 

Israel is an integral part of the Holy Land

• Israel is the only state in the world where the population is predominantly Jewish (75.5%). The non-Jewish population is as follows: Arabs (20.4%), Druze (1.8%), Samaritans, Bedouins, etc.
• Christians represent more than 2% of the population. They are 150,000, mainly Latin and Greek Melkites. The 13 official churches of the Holy Land meet regularly to coordinate their efforts.
• The highest Latin Catholic authority in the East bears the title of Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He sits in Jerusalem and has jurisdiction over the Latin rite Catholics of Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Cyprus, mostly of Eastern origin. Since the withdrawal of His Beatitude Fouad Twal on June 24, 2016, the Patriarchate is under the authority of an Apostolic Administrator, Franciscan Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
• Jerusalem is the city is home to most holy sites from the three greatest monotheistic religions

 

The Holy Land and Eastern Christians

 

The Holy Land is the name given by Christians to the region where Jesus Christ was born and lived. If we take again the sites mentioned in the Gospels having been visited by Jesus Christ, the Holy Land corresponds today geographically:

• to Israel, including annexed Syrian Golan territory (around Baniyas region, Paneas or Caesarea Philippi),

• territories under Palestinian authority (West Bank and Gaza Strip),

• on the southern coast of Lebanon (with Tyre and Sidon ),

• and Jordan (Bethabara),

• as well as the episode of flight into Egypt.

 

Christians are not a minority in the Holy Land. They are an integral part of the identity of this land as the land is an integral part of their identity. Without these Christians, the Holy Land would not be the Holy Land, and without the Holy Land they would not be what they are.

 

 

L’Œuvre d’Orient’s projects in the Holy Land

Many volunteers are sent each year to the Holy Land by l’Œuvre d’Orient.