By LifeSiteNews (Politics) | Created at 2026-09-01 19:21:28 | Updated at 2026-09-04 04:57:45
2 days ago
Tue Sep 1, 2026 - 2:34 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Archbishop of Cologne, said he was “deeply shaken” by the situation of Christians in the Holy Land after visiting the last fully Christian town in the West Bank on the final day of a three-day solidarity tour.
The August 24-27 visit, organized with the Latin Patriarchate, took Woelki and a German delegation through Nablus, Aboud, Ain Arik and Jerusalem before they reached Taybeh on day three. There they were welcomed by parish priest Father Bashar Fawadleh. The group stopped at the Church of Christ the Redeemer, Pulse of Life Radio, the Latin Patriarchate school, the Ephraim Home for the Elderly, and homes of families affected by recent Israeli settler terrorist attacks.
Woelki, who was named a bishop by Pope St. John Paul II in 2003 and a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012, encouraged the people of Taybeh, expressing the purpose of his visitation.
“We have heard your call, and we have heard your cry for help, and that is why we are here,” he said. “We have come to stand by your side, to work with you, and to express our solidarity in these difficult circumstances,” Pulse of Life, a Palestinian Christian media platform, reported.
Israelis attempting ‘to further tighten the noose’ on Christians in Taybeh
Taybeh, home to around 1,500 residents and referred to in the Gospel of John as Ephraim — the place where Jesus Christ withdrew with his disciples before his Passion — has endured over a year of escalating systematic attacks from Jewish terrorists living in “settlements” and “outposts” all deemed illegal under international law.
Father Bashar Fawadleh, the Latin parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church, has characterized the ongoing assaults as “a deliberate strategy of harassment” designed “to create a climate of fear and pressure Palestinian families into leaving their land.”
Additionally, on August 9, the U.S.-backed Israeli military (IDF) designated the “Taybeh and Rimon area” a closed military zone, prohibiting the entry and presence of Israelis and foreigners, with the town’s Christian mayor describing the closure as “an attempt to further tighten the noose on villagers rather than a measure to protect them.”
Other Christian Palestinian critics have charged this step is to facilitate the town’s ethnic cleansing. “They want to do it in silence — without witnesses, without journalists, and without the world noticing,” activist Ihab Hassan wrote at the time.
To support the defense of Holy Land Christians, click here.
‘The world must not turn a blind eye to what is happening’
Woelki stressed that young people must be able to remain and build a future in their ancestorial homeland and called for the two-state solution, which the Catholic Church and around 96% of national governments of the world have long supported.
Expressing the Church’s solidarity with the people of Taybeh, he affirmed violence is not a solution; rather, faith, hope and joint action can pave the way toward a better future. The cardinal also lamented Israeli settler terrorist attacks and ongoing illegal settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land as a daily escalating aggression facing the Christian town.
Woelki later shared that one of the most moving moments for him during his visit was speaking with the owner of a local cement factory. Jewish pogromists had destroyed the machinery and equipment and vandalized company’s vehicles, instantly leaving the owner and about 40 Christian families without livelihoods.
“When you meet the people, you can sense how close they are to the limits of their endurance,” the prelate reflected. “They need support, and the world must not turn a blind eye to what is happening.”
“As the Church, we have a responsibility to stand with those who are being harassed and pushed to the margins,” he affirmed.
Virtue of Palestinians leaves a ‘deep impression’ on cardinal
At the close of the visit, he summarized what he had seen across the West Bank, stating, “I was deeply shaken by the situation of Christians in the Holy Land.”
“In the West Bank, Christian communities live under constant pressure from extremist settlers — vandalism, arson, and physical violence. People here live in fear, and many of them have already left the country,” the German cardinal lamented. “In addition, there are economic hardships, unemployment, and a lack of prospects in the West Bank and Jerusalem, especially among young people.”
Despite the significant sufferings being sustained by Christians due to ongoing aggressions by Israeli settlers under the protection of the U.S.-backed Israeli army, the virtue of these Palestinians left a lasting mark in the mind of the prelate.
“The people of this land left a deep impression on me,” he said. “On the one hand, I was amazed by their hospitality and their high Christian values; on the other hand, by their courage in refusing to give up, but rather in remaining in the Holy Land despite the difficult circumstances they face.”
The cardinal affirmed the reality of the situation must be stated clearly, adding that “when people are systematically subjected to intimidation, economic destruction, and restrictions on their freedom, we must convey this testimony to politicians in Germany, as well as to our fellow citizens.” He emphasized the Archdiocese of Cologne will continue supporting projects and standing with the churches of the Holy Land.
Aggressions by Jewish settler terrorists against Christians in Taybeh
Since at least July 2025, the Christians of Taybeh have been subjected to regular raids of aggression by heavily armed Jewish terrorists who have committed acts of arson to Palestinian Christian agricultural fields, including igniting a fire near the fifth-century Church of St. George and its cemetery, hurling Molotov cocktails at homes, and attempting to ignite a gas station.
They have set many vehicles ablaze and written threatening graffiti across private property, brought their livestock to graze on private Christian Palestinian lands, roamed the streets heavily armed terrorizing residents, with reports of gunfire upon Christian citizens, and more, all in a climate of impunity provided by the occupying Israeli army.
Cardinal Woelki’s visit to Taybeh capped a journey that began with parish meetings in Nablus and Aboud and included Mass at the Holy Sepulchre and an award ceremony in Jerusalem, where Woelki promised, “We will keep the Christians of the Holy Land in our prayers, and we promise to pray for you and to always stand by your side.”
To support the defense of Holy Land Christians, click here.
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