January 7, 2009 Many injured in Gaza can't be reached, says hospital director

Civilians injured by bombings in Gaza are stuck in their homes without food and water, unable to seek medical attention, says the director of an Anglican hospital in Gaza City. Nurses working at the hospital are unable to reach their own injured children at home.

---

January 6, 2009 Evangelical Lutherans visit Middle East for planned conference

Despite the continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) proceeded with their plans to travel to the Middle East from Jan. 6 to 13. The delegation was scheduled to travel to Jerusalem Tuesday, Jan. 6.

---

January 5, 2009 Primate calls for end to violence in Gaza

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, added his voice to the calls from many other leaders of churches and nations for “an immediate cessation to the horrific violence” in Gaza and the resumption of diplomatic negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

---

January 2, 2009 Archbishop of Canterbury calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel

In a statement issued on the eve of the new year, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams urged all those who have the power to end the spiralling violence in Gaza to do so. “I want to express my grief and sympathy for the innocent lives lost,” he wrote. “People of all faiths in this country will want to join their voices to the statements of the Christian Muslim Forum and the Council of Christians and Jews in urging a return to the ceasefire and efforts to secure a lasting peace.”

---

January 2, 2009 Jerusalem Christian leaders seek day of prayer, halt to Gaza violence

The heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem have denounced continuing hostilities in the Gaza Strip as well as "all forms of violence and killings from all parties" and have called for a world day of prayer for peace in the Holy Land.

---

December 30, 2008 Pope, World Council of Churches call for halt to Gaza campaign

Pope Benedict XVI and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, have condemned violence in Gaza, calling for its immediate cessation following an intense bombing campaign by Israel there.

---

December 9, 2008 Silent Night in Arabic heralds Christmas season in Bethlehem

An Arabic version of Silent Night playing in the background on Manger Square heralded in the beginning of the Christmas season in the Holy Land at the 8th annual Bethlehem Christmas market on Nov.30 and Dec.1.

---

November 1, 2008 Pausing for prayer

Sacred space and moments of quiet reflection are crucial ingredients to a time of meditation and prayer during Advent, which begins November 30. Two visitors to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem light candles as part of a prayer vigil.

---

October 9, 2008 Arab Anglican conference empowers women, says organizer

The second Arab Anglican Women's Convention held in Amman in early October was an important way to unite and empower women from the Anglican diocese of Jerusalem, says Shawfeeqa Dawani, co-ordinator of the event.

---

May 1, 2008 Churches decry bishop’s murder

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of the northern Iraq city of Mosul, who was kidnapped in February by armed attackers, was found dead on March 13, church officials in Baghdad announced.

---