As Christmas approaches, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have once again called for an immediate end to the “horrors” of war ravaging the Holy Land.

Unimaginable suffering 

In a Christmas message released on 21 December, Church leaders decried the “unimaginable suffering” caused by the conflict, which has brought “misery and inconsolable sorrow to countless families” throughout the region.

“For those caught in the midst of such dire circumstances, hope seems distant and beyond reach. Yet it was into such a world that our Lord himself was born in order to give us hope,” the Church leaders in Jerusalem noted, recalling the situation faced by the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt for sanctuary.

“Here, we must remember that during the first Christmas, the situation was not far removed from that of today,” they said. “Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph had difficulty finding a place for their son’s birth. There was the killing of children. There was military occupation. And there was the Holy Family becoming displaced as refugees. Outwardly, there was no reason for celebration other than the birth of the Lord Jesus.”