Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land

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Franciscan friars, from all over the world, guard the holy places in which Christ lived. Have you ever wondered why?

The Franciscan Custody is a reference for all pilgrims, the Franciscans are linked to the Holy Places since the time of the Crusades, uninterruptedly until today.

They own many of the places where the earthly life of Jesus Christ passed, although others share them with other religions, in any way, they guarantee Catholic presence and worship. But why the Franciscans, and not another religious family?

The mission of the Franciscan Order goes back to Francisco de Asís himself, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land between 1219 and 1220, during the Crusades. On this trip his famous encounter with Sultan Melek el-Kamel, the staunch enemy of the Christians, took place.

In fact, the Franciscan province of the Holy Land had been born two years before, and it was a sign of the immense love that Francis felt for Jesus Christ and his enormous desire to make a pilgrimage to the places where he spent his earthly life. With this same spirit, after the death of Francisco, the Order continued to encourage its presence there, conceiving it as a true mission after the defeat and withdrawal of Christians. When the Holy Places returned to Muslim hands, maintaining the Christian presence in them became a real adventure.

And the Franciscans, supported by the different Popes (it is worth noting the Bull of Clement VI, which sanctioned the status of the Custody), remained present against all odds since then. And, many times, alone. For centuries, they bought some of the places, barely keeping the buildings, attended to local Christians, under Turkish rule, under the Ottoman, in wars and shortages. The Franciscans, in almost 700 years, were the only face of Christianity visible in the Holy Land, when all the others had disappeared. In 1847, the Holy See restored the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The Franciscan province of the Holy Land is the only one in the world with an international character: the Franciscans who belong to it come from all over the world, and do so voluntarily, either permanently, choosing to provide their services there for a season. Currently there are about 300 friars. Their presence is especially important in Jerusalem, where they maintain a presence in the Holy Sepulcher together with the Greco-Orthodox and Armenians, and especially guard the Basilica of the Agony (Gethsemane). The other two places are Bethlehem (Basilica of the Nativity) and Nazareth, in the Basilica of the Annunciation. They also maintain Christian schools and social works (housing, etc.) with which to help the Christian minority, extremely needy in the wake of the Palestinian conflict.

Another current mission of the Franciscans is cultural animation and interreligious dialogue. Suffice it to say that the Order maintains an important dissemination activity of the archaeological finds related to the Holy Places. For experts in the biblical world, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum does not need cover letters.

In the Holy Land, the friars are at the heart of the Church and the world.

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