On July 15, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land celebrated the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. This is a central feast for Christianity, commemorating the consecration of the altar of the Basilica in 1149 by the Crusaders, but it also carries a strongly current significance today. During the homily, delivered by br. Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, […]
On 7 November, a progress report on the archaeological excavations at the Holy Sepulchre was presented to the heads of the three Communities that look after the complex: the Greek Orthodox, the Latin Catholics (Custody of the Holy Land) and the Armenians. The presentation, hosted by the seat of the Custody, was made by the Department of Antiquities of the Sapienza University of Rome, in charge of the excavations. A press release was then released with the main information (the […]
The Custody of the Holy Land celebrated with solemnity the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi and the liturgical feast of the Saint, patron of Italy, with two intense moments of prayer and communion, the vespers of October 3 and the Eucharistic celebration of October 4. The Transitus of the Seraphic Father On the evening of Friday, October 3, in the Church of Saint Saviour in Jerusalem, the Franciscan community, religious and faithful gathered for the solemn vespers of the […]
From Monday 4 December to Friday 8 December, the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Patton, visited Croatia. He was accompanied by fra Sandro Tomašević, Discreet of the Holy Land, and fra Siniša Srebrenović, guardian of the Convent of the Agony (Gethsemane), both Croatian, and who have been in service at the Custody for several years. Top level meetings The trip had been planned for some time and had both institutional and religious motivations. Fra Patton met some Franciscan […]