Catholic Review
Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News
Tens of thousands of mourners Feb. 26 lined the streets as the funeral procession for Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, made its way nearly 40 miles from Rishon Lezion in central Israel to Tsoher Regional Cemetery in southern Israel.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News
Israel has identified three of the bodies of hostages returned Feb. 20 but said the body of Shiri Bibas — mother of two red-headed boys who became a symbol of Israeli hostage suffering, both confirmed dead — was not returned as promised by Hamas.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News
Catholic leaders in the Holy Land called on Christian pilgrims to return to the region following the implementation of the long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News
In the West Bank, scenes of joy were delayed but the streets erupted in cheers as the first 90 prisoners, mostly women and teens, freed from Israeli prisons, were brought home in white Red Cross buses after midnight Jan. 20 as in the Gaza Strip first caravans of those displaced by 15-month war attempted return to their homes — of which scores are flattened — and first 600 trucks of aid entered the strip.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Jubilee 2025, News, World News
An indulgence granted during the Jubilee Year is not just an occasion to “get something” but rather is a sign of the Holy Year, of the moment where the faithful must put themselves in front of God to discover the reality of oneself and see the need for forgiveness, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem said Dec. 29.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News
In a year filled with the “turmoil of hatred and violence” — which Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa described as “terrible, horrible,” it has been very important to keep the “spiritual life of the Christian community,” as well as his own, “alive,” the patriarch said.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News
Even though death surrounds them every day, Gaza Strip’s Christian community tries to “relieve the suffering” by assisting each other with spiritual and material needs.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News
Almost 100 families still await news of their loved ones who continue to be held hostage in the Gaza Strip after being abducted last year. Among those taken on Oct. 7, 2023, is Sagui, the 35-year-old American-Israeli who is the son of Jonathan Dekel-Chen.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, Vatican, World News
In what was a devastating Sunday morning for hostage families, Israel said Sept. 1 that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents became outspoken global advocates for all hostages to be released.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News
With the approaching one-year mark of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, spurred by the Hamas attack on southern Israeli agricultural communities Oct. 7, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem urged the warring sides to “reach a rapid agreement” for a cease-fire.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, News, World News
The discovery of a Byzantine-period church in the northern Negev, with wall art displaying ships, opens a window to the world of Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land 1,500 years ago, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
By
OSV News
Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Disaster Relief, Feature, News, World News
As tensions and the number of victims mount in southern Gaza Strip, Catholic Relief Services said it has not been able to get humanitarian aid through to the southern Gaza Strip since May 6 and it no longer has any supplies left in its warehouses in that area, said Jason Knapp, CRS country director for Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.
