Now more than ever, the Christian minority in the Holy Land needs the support it receives through the annual Good Friday collection as ongoing violence in the Middle East has curtailed pilgrimages.

Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, called upon the faithful worldwide to participate in the Good Friday collection aimed at assisting Christian communities in the Holy Land.

The Good Friday collection is one of the primary sources of support for the Custody of the Holy Land — the Franciscan institution that for centuries has safeguarded the sites connected to the life of Jesus Christ and accompanied the Christian communities living in the region.

The prefect called upon the faithful around the world to respond with a concrete gesture of solidarity. “I wish to propose a small gesture to you: to offer a little of our money to help our brothers and sisters who find themselves in extreme peril to live one more day, to find hope, and to find the possibility of starting anew.”

“How many times have I personally visited those Christian minorities who wake up every morning facing the danger of no longer having a place to exist!” Gugerotti wrote in the March 18 letter, which was also signed by the dicastery’s secretary, Archbishop Michel Jalakh.

“Help us to offer them concrete hope, not merely words of consolation — for we who visit them will leave, while they remain with their fears, even with the terror that, precisely because they are Christians, they may be eliminated,” the cardinal stated. 

The cardinal explained that the Good Friday donations hold a twofold significance: on the one hand, providing material aid to those living amid war and poverty, and on the other, challenging the conscience of the faithful.

“It is also vital for us, because without sacrifice, without a real change in our way of living, we risk remaining inert before a world in flames — and thus complicit in its destruction,” he said. 

Gugerotti noted that many Christians in the Holy Land have lost their means of livelihood, especially those who depended on religious tourism, which historically sustained a large portion of the local economy. 

The conflict that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, triggered a sharp decline in religious tourism.

“A great many Christians in the Holy Land have lost everything, even the work that came from serving pilgrims,” he pointed out.

In early 2025, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism characterized the year as a turning point, with 1.3 million international arrivals. However, 2026 has once again proven to be a highly problematic year for pilgrimages primarily due to the military escalation by the United States and Israel against Iran, which has thrown the entire region into crisis.

The drastic reduction in pilgrimages and the current climate of insecurity have exacerbated the situation. “Now, out of fear, almost everyone tends to avoid venturing into those lands,” he said.

What is done with the money collected?

In 2023 — the most recent year for which official data are available — the Holy Land collection raised 6,571,893 euros ($7.5 million). 

The Custody of the Holy Land typically receives 65% of the proceeds, while the remaining 35% goes to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, which uses it for the formation of priests and for subsidies to the various dioceses and eparchies in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.

Of the money it receives, the Custody of the Holy Land normally invests 20% in the upkeep of the sites where Jesus Christ walked, while the remainder goes to Christian families, who, in 1948, constituted 20% of the local population but now make up less than 1.4%.

In the Gaza Strip, it collaborates with the Latin parish and the Atfa-Luna association to provide psycho-social support “to some 1,000 children and 300 adults,” as well as to distribute emergency kits and aid to families of people with disabilities.

In Lebanon, the Church responded to the 2024 crisis (the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah) by providing “hot meals for some 500 beneficiaries every day” and ensuring “drinking water for about 250 people daily.” 

The Custody of the Holy Land also manages hundreds of housing units at nominal rents to prevent emigration.

“It has been said that peace has been achieved; however, even though the media speak of it much less today than before, the shooting continues, people continue to die, lands remain disputed, and Christians continue to emigrate to save their lives,” the cardinal noted.

According to the 2023 data released by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, 2,376,167 euros ($2.7 million) was donated to seminaries, houses of religious formation, and cultural institutions. 

The Franciscan Custody allocated more than 2 million euros ($2.3 million) to the education of young people in the Holy Land in 2023, funding scholarships at various universities in the region. 

Nearly 1 million euros ($1.15 million) were allocated to the Pontifical Oriental Institute, which now encompasses, at Pope Francis’ direction, the Pontifical Gregorian University.

A portion was also invested in Bethlehem University, one of the prestigious foundations that underwrites the academic studies of 3,300 young people, both Muslim and Christian, with the aim of educating them to build a future of peace in the Holy Land.

A concrete gesture: Giving is a ‘strong sign of faith’

In his message, the cardinal invited bishops and pastoral leaders to raise awareness among the faithful regarding the importance of sustaining the Christian presence in the places where Christianity was born.

“Let us ensure that our people approach the collection with the awareness that giving is a strong sign of faith,” he wrote. “A Holy Land without believers is a lost land, for the living memory of salvation is lost,” he added.

“Pope Leo XIV never ceases to bring to our minds and hearts this commitment to be one, so that there may be peace — not a provisional truce, not perpetual hatred, not an immense expenditure on armaments, but a contribution to our common rebirth,” the cardinal wrote.

The prelate concluded his letter by acknowledging that the collection would be merely “a drop in the ocean” but that “the ocean, as a result of losing its drops, is turning into a desert.”

In addition to supporting the Franciscan mission in the Holy Land to safeguard the holy places, sustain local Christian communities, and foster peace in the region where Jesus lived, the cardinal said Christians can actively contribute by offering prayers to support this work and inspire new vocations, or by undertaking a pilgrimage to discover the roots of Christianity.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.