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“This is the voice of the Palestinian child calling my people, / the voice of the wounded bird, and here I am crying out with all my voice, / to those near and far, to every lover of life and beauty. / I want, oh God, to live in peace, / and to play, run, […]

“The art of Arabic Calligraphy is not just an artistic form: it is a form of cultural resistance, a means to express the beauty and strength of our Palestinian and Arab identity.” Since late September, our center in Bethlehem, Dar al-Majus, has hosted an Arabic calligraphy workshop led by Gaza-based calligrapher Hany Sarsour. Over the […]

“Yet the goodness he brought into the world is so great that it deserves to end up somewhere, to take shape somehow.” Today we want to tell you a story. It’s the story of a mother who lost a son, of a niece seeking a gesture that might help her mourning aunt find meaning and […]

“Perhaps today’s tragedy needs this gentleness more than ever: a gaze that embraces the entire situation, with all its complex history, without lingering lazily on easy simplifications.” Amid the delicate branches and pink petals of bougainvillea climbing the stone walls stands, in Deir Rafat, the sanctuary of Mary, Queen of Palestine. At the summit of […]

On Sunday, October 20, 2024, Pope Francis will celebrate the canonization in Rome of the eleven martyrs of Damascus: eight friars of the Custody of the Holy Land and three Maronite laymen, executed for their faith in 1860. This event represents not only the recognition of their sacrifice but also a strong message of peace […]

In the early days of October, the weather in Rhodes is still mild—autumn lingers—and the island echoes with solemn notes, sweetly spreading around the Church of St. Francis. From October 1st to 5th, the Church of St. Francis in Rhodes hosted the twelfth edition of the Organ and Music Festival Rhodes, organized by the Catholic […]

“One thing that struck me, during these days of emergency and pain, was seeing how people started helping each other, even though they belong to different communities. Even though some are Christians and others are Muslims.” This is how Fadi Bejani, the coordinator of our projects in Lebanon, responds to the question “Have you seen […]

Sebastia is a small village located in the West Bank, in the green region of Samaria; surrounded by expanses of olive trees, today it is experiencing the drama of war. On the hills around, settler settlements are expanding more and more, threatening the safety of the villagers. Over time we have launched many projects, with […]

Looking for the fit between the tiles of a mosaic to compose the details of an image almost never succeeds on the first attempt. Try to bring the stone closer to the tiles already glued, trying to make it fit together as much as possible; then, turn it over until you find the most similar […]

We could have imagined that the war would be long. But today—one year later—facing a bloody showdown between the main regional powers was a fear we would gladly have done without. Today’s anniversary is not something that belongs to the past. It is not the memory of an event that time is attempting to reconcile. […]

1219, Damietta, Egypt: while the country burns with the fires and blood of the Crusades, two friars meet Malik al-Kāmil, Sultan of Egypt and Palestine. The war, the fifth Crusader attempt to conquer Jerusalem, has also reached Egypt, with the strategic goal of capturing an important port to be used as a bargaining chip. In […]

Updates from Lebanon – In the afternoon, the first truck of humanitarian aid from Beirut reached the displaced people who had taken refuge in the convent of Tyre. Tyre, 27 September – Since 23 September, Lebanon has been hit by a series of devastating air raids , with a tragic toll that so far counts […]

“Immediate measures were implemented to contain the situation, but the truth is that no one was truly ready to face something like this.” “It was a dramatic day.” This is how Fadi Behjani, the project manager of Pro Terra Sancta’s offices in Lebanon, describes Tuesday, September 24, the second day when a rain of Israeli […]

“Often, our young people wear t-shirts that convey messages of cynicism, harshness, and sometimes violence. This project allowed them to create clothing that suits their tastes, with styles, tones, and colors they like, but that also carries a message of hope.” Dewdrops make no noise, and neither does the blade of grass that grows in […]

School restarts: however, many students in Syria and Lebanon will not be able to return to the classroom. Two testimonies from the field.