Sanad Sahelia

Sanad Sahelia is a freelance journalist with ACI MENA covering Christian communities and their affairs in Palestine and the Holy Land. He has been working for different media outlets for over 26 years.

Articles by Sanad Sahelia

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa looks out at some of the destruction in Gaza. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem welcomes Gaza agreement as step toward ending war

Oct 9, 2025 / 11:55 am

In a statement released Oct. 9, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa welcomed the news “with joy” and called for the full and sincere implementation of the agreement.

Churches in Jerusalem face ongoing tax pressures amid long-standing negotiations. Credit: Amizor via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jerusalem churches face mounting tax pressures under Israel’s ‘Arnona’ property levy

Oct 7, 2025 / 06:00 am

The Vatican-Israel dispute over Church taxes in Jerusalem remains unresolved after 30 years.

Eucharistic edoration at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, in December 2024. Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli

Gaza churches provide shelter and hope amid escalating conflict

Sep 19, 2025 / 07:00 am

Amid military esclation, Holy Family Catholic Church in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood of southern Gaza has become both a spiritual center and a refuge.

A view of the damage to the Holy Family church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Holy Family Church leaders in Gaza will ‘stay and serve’ amid evacuation orders in city

Sep 5, 2025 / 06:00 am

The Emergency Committee at Holy Family Church in Gaza recently announced that its members will stay put to care for displaced residents sheltering there.

Cars were torched in an attack on the town of Taybeh in the West Bank on July 28, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Palestinian Information Center

Violence continues to escalate in West Bank as settlers target Christian village

Jul 29, 2025 / 13:14 pm

According to eyewitnesses, a group of settlers infiltrated one of the town’s neighborhoods, set two civilian vehicles on fire, and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on walls.

UPDATE: Latin Patriarchate confirms Holy Family Church in Gaza hit, 3 deaths reported

Jul 17, 2025 / 09:12 am

The direct strike killed three people, as confirmed by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem hours after the attack.

Heads of churches in Jerusalem visited the town of Taybeh in Ramallah on July 14, 2025. Credit: Sand Sahiliya

Jerusalem church leaders visit Taybeh: Christians’ presence in the Holy Land is at risk

Jul 16, 2025 / 18:01 pm

The delegation to the West Bank was led by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.

The view of the West Bank and Israel from Mount Nebo. Credit: quantestorie via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Priest warns: Christian town in Holy Land no longer safe amid settler attacks

Jun 26, 2025 / 17:02 pm

The Palestinian Christian town of Taybeh, the last remaining town in the West Bank inhabited entirely by Christians, faces ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers.

Father Francesco Ielpo, a Franciscan friar, on June 24, 2025, was appointed the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion. Previously, since 2022, he was president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces. Credit: Custodia Terræ Sanctæ

Pope Leo XIV approves new custos of the Holy Land amid regional crisis

Jun 25, 2025 / 11:54 am

Father Francesco Ielpo, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, has been named the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion, succeeding Father Francesco Patton.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in an interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, emphasized that the Catholic Church in the Holy Land must remain “open”: “The Church must remain open and accessible to all. This is absolutely essential. Everyone must be able to reach us, we must be a point of connection for everyone.” Credit: Cristian Gennari/OESSH (Anba Agency)

Cardinal Pizzaballa in the Holy Land: ‘The Church must be a point of connection for everyone’

Jun 24, 2025 / 14:17 pm

In the midst of ongoing war and an escalation of violence in the Middle East, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, urged peace and unity.

The custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, anoints the statue of Jesus on the Stone of Anointing during the ceremony known as the “funeral procession” on Good Friday night 2024. According to the tradition and the Status Quo, on the evening of Good Friday — both Catholic and Orthodox — the rite of preparing Jesus’ body for burial is reenacted on this stone during the so-called “funeral procession.” Credit: Marinella Bandini

Amid ongoing war and blockades, Holy Land Christians insist on celebrating Easter

Apr 19, 2025 / 07:00 am

This year’s Easter celebrations in the Holy Land are expected to unfold under a complex and emotional landscape as war continues in Gaza.

The papal ambassador to Jordan, Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, and Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Lina Annab speak at a press conference in Amman, Jordan, about the new exhibit “Jordan: Dawn of Christianity,” which will open at the Vatican on Jan. 31, 2025. Credit: ACI MENA

Vatican to host historic Jordan exhibition on Christianity’s origins

Jan 9, 2025 / 15:00 pm

The “Jordan: Dawn of Christianity” exhibit will open at the Vatican on Jan. 31 showcasing 90 artifacts.

Lara Al-Sayegh, a Catholic from Gaza, collapsed and died of heatstroke as she and her mother tried to leave Gaza and find safe haven in Egypt on April 24, 2024. The 19-year-old lived in northern Gaza and the family had already lost their father and husband after he died at Gaza’s Latin Holy Family Church due to a lack of adequate medical care. Credit: Fady Al-Sayegh

19-year-old Catholic woman dies attempting to flee Gaza with her mother

Apr 30, 2024 / 16:30 pm

The tragic death of Lara Al-Sayegh highlights the suffering of Gaza’s dwindling Christian minority.