Between July 24 and 26, 2025, Br. Francesco Ielpo made his official entrance into the three main holy sites of Christianity under the care of the Custody of the Holy Land: the Cenacle and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This marks a significant moment in the Franciscan tradition, signifying the beginning of his service as Custos, leading the Franciscan presence in the places tied to the life of Jesus. Each stop was […]
On Thursday 3 October, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) and the Studium Theologicum Jerosolimitanum (STJ) celebrated the start of the new 2024-2025 academic year. Students, lecturers and collaborators took part in the Solemn Mass in St Saviour’s church in Jerusalem, to consecrate a new year of studying and specializing in the Holy Scriptures. The tensions in the country becoming harsher prevented the arrival in Jerusalem of Mons. František Trstenský, Bishop of Spiš and former student of the SBF, who should […]
In the Church of St. Saviour, the parish priest Fr. Rami Asakrieh presided over the celebration of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, inviting the faithful to live this day as a time of prayer and hope in the resurrection. Death as passage and not as end During his meditation, Fr. Asakrieh reminded that death, while remaining a reality that touches every person, can be welcomed as an integral part of the human and Christian journey."In the heart of […]
“I cannot abandon my sheep; I prefer to die with them, if necessary.” On Wednesday 23 August, the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr Francesco Patton ofm inaugurated the Chapel in Cappadocia (Aquila) dedicated to the blessed Salvatore Lilli ofm, martyred in Armenia in 1895. The celebrations Reflection and prayer marked the celebrations which preceded the inauguration of the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Salvatore Lilli ofm, in the Mother Church of St Margaret in Cappadocia, the village in Abruzzo […]