Caritas Jerusalem (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: ) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

nonprofit organisation based in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and operating mainly in the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

. It was established in 1967 and is the official aid organisation of the

Catholic Church in Palestine The Catholic Church in Palestine is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are over 80,000 Catholics in the State of Palestine (including Jerusalem) mostly in the agglomeration between Ra ...

and in Israel. The organisation refers to the territories it is working in as the "

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

". Caritas Jerusalem implements social welfare services and provides

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

. It is a member of both

Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis (Latin for ) is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the ...

and Caritas MONA.

Background

Caritas Jerusalem was founded in 1967 after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

to coordinate Catholic relief efforts. In 2022, Caritas Jerusalem's activities included the renovation of houses, distribution of food kits, integration activities for persons with disabilities, labour market integration activities for women and youth, healthcare and health promotion activities, as well as other support to vulnerable groups. These activities took place in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

and

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

. During the

Gaza humanitarian crisis Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

, Caritas Jerusalem set up a temporary clinic in the north of the territory in February 2024 and eight mobile clinics for the displaced persons in

Rafah Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...

. Israeli airstrikes killed a lab technician and a pharmacist working for Caritas Jerusalem in October and November 2023.

Governance

Presidents

* around 2006:

Michel Sabbah Michel Sabbah (; born 19 March 1933) is a Catholic Church in Palestine, Palestinian Catholic prelate who served as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, the first non-Italian to hold the position in m ...

* around 2010:

Fouad Twal Fouad Twal (; born 23 October 1940 in Madaba, Jordan) is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 2008 to 2016. He has also served as the Grand Prior of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusa ...

* currently:

Pierbattista Pizzaballa Pierbattista Pizzaballa (; also Petrus Battista Pizzaballa; born 21 April 1965 in Italy) is part of the Order of Friars Minor (commonly called Franciscans) founded by Francis of Assisi and a Catholic Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal who has ...

Secretaries General

* 1987–2013: Claudette Habesch * 2013–2017: Fr. Raed Abusahlia * 2017–2022: Sr. Bridget Tighe * 2022–present: Anton Asfar

References

External links

* {{Authority control Charities based in Palestine Social justice organizations Organizations established in 1976 Catholic Church in Jerusalem Catholic Church in Palestine