The situation of Christians in the Holy Land continues to arouse concern among local Churches. In its 2025 annual report, the Rossing Center recorded 155 anti-Christian acts committed in Israel and East Jerusalem over the past year, compared to 111 incidents in 2024, an increase of approximately 39.6%. The report details in particular 61 physical attacks, 52 attacks against religious property, 28 cases of verbal harassment or threats and 14 damage to Christian symbols. Among the most frequent incidents are spitting against priests and religious in the streets of Jerusalem, as well as acts of vandalism targeting holy places or Christian cemeteries. This increase in violence comes in a context of heightened tensions since the war in Gaza and the rise of religious and identity radicalism in Israel.
It is precisely this climate that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa spoke of in an interview given on May 7, 2026 to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, on the sidelines of the Milano Civil Week. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem describes a development that he considers deeply worrying:
“Unfortunately, extremism is gaining ground in this context… the culture of contempt for everything that is not theirs, not only for everything that is Arab but for everything that is not Jewish, is unfortunately growing. “The cardinal also denounces a phenomenon fueled by the current media and political climate: “It is a diseased germ within a society, amplified by the media, and something we must work on to contain it before it becomes truly alarming. HAS”
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For several years, Christian leaders in Jerusalem have been warning of an increase in intimidation against Christian communities, often attributed to young religious extremists from Jewish ultranationalist movements. The perpetrators of these acts are rarely prosecuted, which fuels a feeling of impunity denounced by local Churches. Cardinal Pizzaballa also made a point of recalling that the current conflict could not be reduced to Hamas alone: “Hamas controls Gaza, not the rest of Palestine. HAS” Finally asked about the possibility of a two-state solution, the Franciscan Patriarch responded with caution tinged with irony:
“Yes and no. And I realize that, although I am Franciscan, I respond like a Jesuit. HAS”
Beyond the formula, his words above all reflect the growing concern of Christians in the Holy Land in the face of an increasingly polarized society, where their historical presence seems to become ever more fragile.
