By Dale Gavlak Catholic News Service JERUSALEM — A Palestinian Catholic tour guide whose family has lived in Jerusalem for generations and whose spiritual heritage stretches as far back as the first century church laughed as he recounted the story. “An Israeli official once asked me if I was a …

By Mary Knight Catholic News Service JERUSALEM — Jerusalem is hot, especially in the gym of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Bilingual School for Jewish Arab Education. Jerusalem is tense, too, with jolting violence this summer over dismantled settlement homes, gay rights and a brutal attack on a Palestinian …

Catholic News Agency As Christians continue to face unprecedented persecution – especially in the Middle East – the Knights of Columbus have announced a new campaign to send humanitarian aid and raise awareness about their plight. “Pope Francis has urged the international community to take action to help Christians in …

By Steve Trosley The Catholic Telegraph “Seek the face of the Lord.” So declares the Episcopal motto of Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, who led a group of 80 pilgrims through the Holy Land in Israel and Jordan on an advent spiritual journey Dec. 1-14. The pilgrims found the face of …

Staff Report Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr and a host of pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are in the midst of a two-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Steve Trosley, editor of The Catholic Telegraph, is there to capture the experience. The pilgrims arrived in Tel Aviv Dec. 2 …

Staff Report Though much of the world and media attention have turned to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, the situation in Gaza remains dire as well. Father Rob Waller of St. Andrew’s in Milford is doing something to help.

By Winston Pierre Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — The head of a Michigan-based tour company that leads trips to the Holy Land said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas so far has not had an impact on pilgrimages he and his associates lead.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM TEL AVIV — Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters May 26. During a wide-ranging inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Asking prayers for his May 24-26 trip to the Holy Land, Pope Francis said his visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories would be “strictly religious.”