Amid the ongoing armed conflict in the Holy Land, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, will make a pastoral visit to the region on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.
The Italian cardinal will visit Israel and Palestine from Nov. 16–21. According to a press release from his dicastery, Gugerotti will visit the Catholic communities in these regions to bring them "the expression of the Holy Father's closeness" as they continue to navigate ongoing casualties from the war and a diminished Christian population.
According to the press release, Israel's overall Christian communities remain low in terms of population, with approximately 185,000 citizens, equal to 1.9% of the country's population. Catholics, most of whom belong to the Greek Melkite Church, comprise a majority of these citizens.
The ongoing war in Gaza has also influenced Christian emigration from these lands, particularly from Palestine. In the West Bank, according to the release, Catholics number 35,000 out of 3.5 million people, and there are only 500 Christians in the entire Gaza Strip.
During Gugerotti's visit, he will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian Catholic communities and celebrate Mass at major Christian sites in the Holy Land, including those in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee.
The cardinal will also visit the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, Nourhan Manougian. In the press release, the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches said that these pastoral and ecumenical visits would "represent the Holy Father's solidarity and the concrete support of the entire Church for the brothers and sisters of the Holy Land."
