The families of more than 20,000 students across the Holy Land and beyond are rejoicing after the Church cleared their school debts.

 

“With the stroke of a pen”, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa wiped out accrued education debts at all schools across the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ), which covers Cyprus and Jordan as well as Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

 

Key to the initiative is to preserve the small but strong Christian community in the Holy Land.

 

Even though Christians are the smallest of the three major faith groups present in the Holy Land after Jews and Muslims, the Catholic Church runs the largest network of schools in the region.

 

Father Davide Meli, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), said: “We have over 20,000 students, and in all of our schools there is a concrete opportunity for people of different faiths to meet, to respect one another, to learn together, and to build relationships that last a lifetime.”

 

 ACN has already pledged to cover fees for more than 800 Christian students in 13 schools in the Holy Land, in the belief that their education is an investment in the future of Christianity in the entire region.

 

At a time of worsening poverty with unemployment among Christians at 72 per cent, Fr Medi said the Cardinal was determined to act but, forced to either close schools or dismiss students unable to pay, he chose a third way, an option of hope. 

 

Fr Medi added: “The Patriarch said that, since this year is the year of the Jubilee of Hope, and that part of the practice during the jubilee is to forgive debts, he had decided to forgive all accrued school debts, except for the ones for this current school year.

 

“He basically crossed out millions in debt with the stroke of a pen, which, from a purely financial point of view ruffled some feathers, but it was the right thing to do.

 

“Many of our families were very worried about this, and when he forgave those debts, they saw it as a sign of dignity, that the Church is with them, that it cares. 

 

“God can never be exceeded in generosity.” 

 

He said that following the announcement, the LPJ was contacted by people who wanted to make large donations for schooling. 

 

He added: “So the money went out one window and it is coming in another door.”

 

George Akroush, director of the LPJ Development Office, said that Cardinal Pizzaballa often says that “to close a school is to close a parish”.

 

He said schools are an important asset for keeping Christians in their homelands and that many young people want to stay.

 

However, if parents cannot access quality Christian education for their children, they will most likely leave to seek a better life elsewhere as many have done in recent decades. 

 

Mr Akroush added: “We are deeply committed to preserving a vivid and strong Christian community in the Holy Land. 

 

“I conducted research that proves that 93 per cent of our younger generations are still proud to be part of the Holy Land. They feel it is a kind of vocation, that it is God's plan that he wanted us to be in his homeland, the land of incarnation and salvation.”

 

He said it presented the patriarchate “with a conundrum”, due to a very difficult economic climate caused by events including the COVID pandemic and the war in Gaza, “which means that the higher the number of Christian students in a Christian school, the higher the deficit”. 

 

He added: “The overall rate of unemployment in the West Bank, for example, is 40 per cent, but among Christians it is 72 per cent. 

 

“This is because most Christian families work in the tourism sector, which has been in a deep crisis for many years. 

 

“Because of the total collapse of the tourism sector and the related businesses, the parents are no longer able to pay even a small part of their education,” he said, adding that the crossing out the debt was a great relief for many Christian households.