Artisans, small businesses, construction and maintenance of buildings.

All our activities have always been undertaken in reliance on the generosity and charity of the universal Christian community and the contributions of friends and supporters.

These last years have been particularly difficult for all the Christians of the Holy Land and the lack of any economic prospects is driving many of them to emigrate. The danger is that numbers of Christians are decreasing in the places that witnessed the earthly life of Jesus. At present the situation is particularly worrying in the Palestinian territories both as a consequence of the long conflict and as a consequence of the problems arising from growing religious radicalism.

The Franciscans are concretely committed to giving stability to the Christians present in the Holy Land, contributing to the solution of the fundamental problem of homes and jobs. One of the ways the Custody acts is through the construction of new apartments that are then let out at a peppercorn rent. In other cases homes are rented and then offered to the poor for nothing.

Through its own activities (buildings, schools, accommodation for pilgrims, etc) the Custody offers numerous opportunities for work to many Christian families. In the area of youth employment there are moreover various programs aimed at encouraging small commercial and craft family businesses.

“…it is not true that the Middle East conflict is at the origins of world tensions …the contrary is true, the conflict in the Middle East is the result of many situations of conflict in the world, at every level, that flow into it…”

“There is a serious problem in that the skilled Christian population is diminishing because anyone with financial prospects and a good education prefers to emigrate since he or she does not see any prospects for the future here. The construction of houses is aimed at discouraging emigration: many Christians are leaving the Holy Land...”*