As Christians around the world prepare for Good Friday on 18 April, the Australian Church is once again being called upon to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Holy Lands—those who live in the regions of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection, and who today face immense hardship.
The Pontifical Good Friday Collection, taken up each year in parishes around the world, provides critical support for the sacred sites of Christianity and the small but vital Christian communities in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and beyond. In 2024, Australian Catholics gave generously, contributing more than $1.5 million to the cause, with Melbourne alone accounting for over $270,000.
For 800 years the Franciscan Friars have shared the difficult lives of Christians in the countries that make up the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
In a letter to the Church in Australia, Fr Bernie Thomas OFM, Commissary of the Holy Land, writes, ‘As many of you are aware, for 800 years the Franciscan Friars have shared the difficult lives of Christians in the countries that make up the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land … Among them, the friars have never ceased offering their pastoral care.’
This year’s appeal comes at a time of mounting uncertainty and unrest in the region. While there had been hope earlier this year that a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza might hold, fighting has resumed and intensified, tensions remain high and the challenges for local Christians are growing, with Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa recently describing the situation in Gaza as ‘dramatic, catastrophic, shameful’.
Against this background, Fr Thomas’ hope ‘is that our Australian parishioners, parish priests and bishops will again be as generous as they have always been. Our donation is a direct way to make a difference in the lives of people who are keeping alive the Christian presence in the land of Jesus, often in the face of great difficulty in recent years,’ he writes.
Presence and service
The Franciscans, through the Custody of the Holy Land, have a long-standing mission of preserving both the sacred heritage of Christianity—the ‘ancient stones’—and supporting the lives and dignity of today’s Christians—the ‘living stones’.
A projects letter issued by the Commissariat of the Holy Land explains that the Good Friday Collection supports five key areas: the upkeep of the Holy Places, social and charitable outreach, educational and scientific activities, pastoral care, and media and ecumenical initiatives.
The maintenance of the Holy Places allows pilgrims and locals alike to connect with the foundational events of the Christian faith. Despite the ongoing conflict and the collapse of the pilgrimage economy during COVID and now again due to the war, the Franciscan Friars have continued to safeguard and care for these sacred sites.
‘There has been a dramatic loss of income due to the closure of the shrines and the lack of pilgrims,’ the projects letter says. ‘However, the maintenance and care of the shrines have had to continue as well as supporting the local people whom they employ.’
Despite the challenges of the last 10 years, the people in the Holy Land have stayed strong in faith.
In addition to maintaining these sites, the Franciscans engage in social projects like building housing for young families and aged care facilities, offering medical aid, and distributing food. They also operate schools that are open to children of all backgrounds, offer scholarships and support young people in seminary formation. These efforts are not only charitable; they are critical to ensuring a future for Christians in the Holy Lands.
‘We have 18 schools in the Holy Land,’ writes Fr Francesco Patton OFM, Custos of the Holy Land. ‘These schools are crucial because they provide not only cultural education but also human and religious education. We stress the importance of living together and the values of (papal encyclical) Fratelli Tutti.’
Hope in hardship
Despite the hardships of the past decade, including war, displacement and poverty, there are moments of light and hope. Fr Thomas recalls visiting the baptism site at Al-Maghtas in Jordan in 2015, when the Church of the Baptism of the Lord was merely a concrete shell. In January 2025, the new church was finally consecrated.
‘Despite the challenges of the last 10 years, the people in the Holy Land (including many pilgrim sites in Jordan) have stayed strong in faith, and the opening of a new church must bring about a great hope for the future,’ he writes.
Fr Patton, too, highlights the transformative power of this mission, pointing out that the Custody provides ‘jobs for more or less 2,000 people, which is a great effort because it means every month we have to pay a lot of salaries.’
He points in particular to the Magnificat Music School in Jerusalem as a unique and inspiring example of coexistence: ‘Most of the teachers are Jewish and most of the students are Muslim and Christian. Through these efforts, we hope to foster a mentality of living together and counter the polarisation fuelled by politics and ideology.’
Global responsibility with local roots
The Commissariat’s appeal is deeply pastoral, but also very practical. The Good Friday Collection is a lifeline, and without the funds raised through this annual effort, much of the Church’s vital work in the Holy Lands would be at risk.
From the sacred shrines of Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the housing projects in Bethany, to schools and medical clinics in Syria and Lebanon, the global Church’s generosity is felt in tangible, life-giving ways.
Our donation is a direct way to make a difference in the lives of people who are keeping alive the Christian presence in the land of Jesus.
Fr Thomas regards the $1.5 million raised in Australia last year as a clear testament to the compassion and commitment of local Catholics. But as needs in the Holy Lands deepen and evolve, so too does the call to respond with continued and renewed generosity.
Fr Thomas ends his letter by reminding the Australian faithful that ‘Our donation is a direct way to make a difference in the lives of people who are keeping alive the Christian presence in the land of Jesus … I humbly and wholeheartedly thank you all.’
The Good Friday Collection is an expression of faith, solidarity and communion, and a bridge between Australian Catholics and the cradle of Christianity.
Find out more about the Good Friday Holy Land Collection here.
Banner image: A Christian kneels in prayer outside the locked door of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City on Palm Sunday, 5 April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: OSV News/Debbie Hill, CNS.)
