The Creativity of Charity in Taybeh, a Palestinian Christian Village

Among the projects supported by the Order and completed in the first six months of 2025, there are three that aimed to support the population of a small Palestinian village whose population is entirely Christian, which is a rare occurrence in the Holy Land.

Taybeh, as Latin parish priest Father Bashar Fawadleh emphatically recounts, is “the biblical Ephraim where Jesus chose to withdraw. ‘Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.’ (Jn 11:54). Taybeh is also the place where Saint Charles de Foucauld stayed on several occasions, and where he wrote his Lenten Retreat.”

Taybeh is a small oasis, a place of prayer and everyday life for its 1,350 inhabitants, and for those who pass through or decide to live there too, as did the Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah. Father Bashar continues, “Taybeh is a city with a big heart and a long tradition of hospitality. Even today, when the situation allows, many groups of pilgrims stop here. They are welcomed in the Latin parish complex at the ‘Charles de Foucauld’ guesthouse, and on Sundays, they attend the parish Mass and meet the living stones of Jesus’ land. For our village, it’s a breath of fresh air, and reminds us too of the importance of our Christian presence in the Holy Land.”

The situation in Palestinian villages is extremely difficult to bear, and the parish priest does not mince his words in describing the severity of the situation. The war is having a clearly devastating impact in Gaza, but also in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where Palestinians are suffering, especially the young, who long for more freedom. For them, it is hard to keep hope alive.

“When settlers prevent them from going to their land to harvest olives,” explains Father Bashar, “they commit an act of violence against them! Likewise, when the army sets up checkpoints that, without reason, block their movement between cities in the Palestinian territories within their own country, consequently preventing them from going to work. This yearning for freedom is sometimes too strong, and parents want to offer their children a better future. As a result”, he concludes, “eleven families have left Taybeh since October 7, 2023.”

It is in this context that the Order’s commitment comes into play. In coordination with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, it has supported three projects benefiting the local community: one for a school, one for a retirement home, and one for a convent.

In one of the two Patriarchate schools, renovation work was completed on the playgrounds, which had been in poor condition and posed an accident risk for children. Today, the entire area has been modernized and made safe with the addition of new resources to the playgrounds, for example, safety barriers, and a lighting system suitable for use in the afternoon and evening. In fact, the area is available not only to students but also to all young people and parishioners, as the school also functions as a community center offering cultural, sporting, spiritual, and social activities.

The second project concerns the Beit Afram retirement home in Taybeh, which is managed by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. Founded in 2005, it offers an environment where the elderly are cared for, and are happy, independent, and socially integrated. As of now, the facility hosts 24 residents and employs 25 staff members. Its mission is to allow the elderly to experience this phase of their lives with dignity, in a setting where they feel they can still contribute and make a positive impact on the community. In 2019, Beit Afram received a notice from the municipality requiring it to comply with safety standards set by local authorities. This entailed, conforming to fire safety regulations, specific evacuation procedures, a full nursing call system, and adequate insurance coverage. Adaptation work financed by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre began in 2022 and was completed in February 2025.

Finally, the village of Taybeh is also home to one of the convents of the Sisters of the Rosary, a precious women’s congregation founded in Jerusalem in 1880, which has since accompanied the life of local Christian communities with dedication. The convent in Taybeh, unfortunately, had fallen into a poor state of upkeep. The work completed in April 2025 allowed the sisters to have a home with new sanitary facilities and, among other improvements, an upgraded electrical system that meets safety standards and is much more energy efficient.

Clearly, there are many needs, and we continue to hold Taybeh’s reality close to our hearts, as we do with the other communities in the Holy Land, alongside the Latin Patriarchate. Father Bashar concludes with a special thought for the youth, stating, “Thirteen jobs have been created, mainly for young people, encouraging them to stay in their homeland so they can earn a living and support their families. In addition, we have launched the ‘Saint Charles de Foucauld Housing Project’ to allow young couples to purchase a home in Taybeh and build their lives. All of this comes at a cost and requires investment, and that is why we need help.”

(June 2025)