More than 100 churches in Panama affected by October earthquake
More than 100 Catholic churches sustained varying degrees of damage following the earthquake that shook Panama on Oct. 9, according to a preliminary report released by the country’s bishops’ conference.
The 7.5-magnitude earthquake impacted various sectors throughout the country, including in the nation’s capital city.
According to an Oct. 19 statement from the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC, by its Spanish acronym), the earthquake injured 27 people and immediately killed one person. More than 9,000 homes sustained some form of damage.
The natural disaster also caused damage to Catholic Church properties. On Oct. 19, the Panamanian Bishops' Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym) published a report detailing the condition of the country’s cathedrals, parishes, and chapels.
The document classified the damage to two churches in the Diocese of Santiago de Veraguas as “totally destroyed”: St. Isidore the Farmer parish church in Soná, and Jesus of Nazareth Minor Basilica in the district of Atalaya.
The report classifies the damage of several churches in other regions of the country as serious. For example, in the Diocese of Penonomé, St. John the Baptist Parish has “damage to the bell tower, debris on the ground, and cracks in the side walls and the choir balcony.”
In the Diocese of Chitré, St. Athanasius Church “suffered the loss of the top level of its tower, debris on the ground, and cracks in its walls”; while in the Diocese of David, “subsidence [some sinking] and cracks in the tower, as well as outward tilting of walls,” were recorded at Our Lady of Remedies Parish.
The list of affected buildings also includes churches of high historical value. Among them is the St. John the Baptist Cathedral in the Diocese of Penonomé, which suffered the “partial loss of the upper section of its oldest tower,” while the other tower is tilted and has severe damage to its cupola and cross.
Another site affected was Old St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Panama City, where cracks, severe fissures, and damage to the sacristy dome were identified. According to the report, one issue that “requires special attention” is the “apparent leaning of the bell in the south tower, accompanied by cracking at its base.”
According to the tally mentioned in the report, the Diocese of Chitré accounts for 118 damaged sites, primarily rural chapels. It is followed by the Diocese of Penonomé with 13, the Archdiocese of Panama and the Diocese of Veraguas with eight each, and the Diocese of David with two.
The CEP clarified that the data presented are “preliminary” in nature, and many church-owned properties still require “specialized technical inspections” to determine the exact extent of the damage.
The report concludes by noting that Catholic Church buildings possess more than just “architectural value”; they serve as “meeting places, the celebration of faith, and collective memory, and are closely linked to the history and identity of Panamanian communities.”
The Panamanian episcopate expressed its closeness to the affected communities and highlighted the importance of “protecting people’s lives, addressing the safety conditions of the buildings, and ensuring the preservation of these places of worship.”
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Conference in Rome addresses welcoming missionaries amid migration tensions
Amid rising tensions around migration, a conference in Rome reflected on the challenges modern missionaries face after moving to new countries.
The conference “The Church of the Sheaves: An International Gathering in Rome on Mission as an Exchange of Gifts” began at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 22 and will continue through Oct. 24. It was organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Gathering clergy, scholars, and synodal teams, the conference is also part of a new project from the dicastery to foster a sense of belonging among missionaries in countries where Christianity once flourished.
Migration cannot be stopped
Migration was a recurring theme at the conference, as both missionary activity and migration are increasing worldwide. Tensions surrounding migration, particularly in Europe, prompted participants to discuss the challenges modern missionaries face in their host countries, including discrimination.
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, described migration as a phenomenon that “cannot stop” and highlighted the Church’s experience in addressing it.
“Migration is something we cannot stop,” Nwachukwu told EWTN News. Migration will always be there as long as we have human beings and their need to survive. If we try to stop it by force, the migrants themselves will force the gates. So the best way to go about migration is to manage it.”
“The Church has been at the forefront of the art, practice, and experience of managing migration. [The missionaries] have shown us that not every migrant should be discriminated against. Every human being, made in the image and likeness of God, has something to offer,” Nwachukwu added.
Others noted that the Gospel has necessarily crossed borders in its spread and that relations between missionaries and their host countries must be reciprocal to overcome hostilities, citing the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
“The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman suggests that mission can transform those relationships through vulnerability, dialogue, reciprocity, and witness,” Rocío Cortés Rodríguez, assistant professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said during her presentation.
Reimagining missionary work as an exchange of gifts
The Church of the Sheaves is a new initiative from the Dicastery for Evangelization that will begin as an online course for clergy, religious, and pastoral workers, providing cultural training for missionaries and the communities that receive them.
Father Stan Chu Ilo, co-director of the Church of the Sheaves project, explained that the project aims to reimagine missionary work as an exchange of gifts.
“It is not a reactionary mission,” Ilo told EWTN News. “In the past, we had Fidei Donum, where Pope Pius XII, as the world came out of the Second World War, defined the path towards mission as the gift of one part — in this case, it was Europeans who were going to Africa. Now we have a changing world population; the Catholic Church is growing.”
“It is a project then to … retrain pastoral agents, missionary practitioners everywhere to embrace this new dynamism and these new opportunities of movement of Godʼs people from one part of the world to another,” Ilo added.
Pope Leo XIV cancels Assisi visit on doctors’ advice
Pope Leo XIV will not travel to Assisi on Oct. 27 for a gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by St. John Paul II, the Vatican announced Friday.
The decision follows medical advice as the pope continues to recover from thoracic surgery performed last week.
“To facilitate his recovery following the thoracic surgery performed on Tuesday of last week, and following the advice of his doctors, Pope Leo XIV will not be able to attend the ‘Unarmed and Disarming Peace’ gathering in Assisi on Oct. 27, as previously planned, on the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by St. John Paul II,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.
The Vatican added that the pope will send a message expressing his closeness to the organizers, leaders and representatives of Christian denominations and other religions, as well as the guests attending the event.
The statement emphasized the popeʼs conviction that the “spirit of Assisi,” dialogue, and the search for words and gestures of peace are valuable resources in an era marked by conflict.
Earlier Friday, the Holy See Press Office released a medical bulletin signed by Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora.
“As scheduled, the Holy Father underwent a follow-up chest X-ray. The examination confirmed that his postoperative recovery is progressing exceptionally well,” the doctors said.
“However, given the short time that has elapsed since the operation, the attending physicians considered it advisable, as a precautionary measure, to recommend against the planned helicopter trip on Oct. 27.”
The decision does not indicate any abnormality in the popeʼs recovery but reflects medical caution ahead of his planned trip to Latin America in November.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Vice President Vance to EWTN: ‘We are God’s ambassadors on Earth’
Vice President JD Vance on Oct. 22 told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN News’ “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” that God calls Christians to be “humble in the face [of] uncertainty” and that Christians walking in faith often “take two steps toward Jesus and one step back” before arriving at Christ.
Vance spoke with Arroyo in a wide-ranging interview that included politics, immigration, economics, and faith.
The vice president has been especially forthcoming about his own faith journey, one which began in Appalachian Protestant churches and eventually led him to the Catholic Church. He attended Christian churches while growing up but was drawn to what in June he described as the “beautiful ancient Church” of Catholicism.
Speaking with Arroyo, Vance described a religious experience in which he was driving on mountain roads back from his grandmother’s funeral and nearly drove off the road.
“And just like right at that point where Iʼm like, all right, Iʼm about to go over the side of the mountain, the car just comes to a completely restful stop,” he said. “Like God put his hand on that car and made it stop.”
The experience “gnawed at me,” Vance said, describing the event as “a door opening.”
“[W]e are ultimately Godʼs ambassadors here on Earth,” he said, describing what he said is the “powerful” witness of Christians “doing good things.”
Arroyo and Vance discussed several other topics in the interview, including the ongoing civil unrest and rioting in France.
“I donʼt think you can talk about whatʼs happening in France without acknowledging the role of migration,” Vance said. “Because in the neighborhoods where you see the most significant violence, the most significant outburst, the burning of these beautiful historical buildings — you often have neighborhoods with extremely high immigrant populations.”
Western societies “want to be welcoming to people,” the vice president said. But “when we allow someone into our country, are they culturally compatible? Are they willing to assimilate into Western values and Western society?”
Asked about Church leadership on immigration issues, Vance — who has publicly disagreed with the U.S. bishops on some aspects of the immigration debate — said he would “never accuse the Church of being naive.”
The Church “will say two things that I fundamentally believe in and agree with, but I think 90% of people agree with, which is: One, you must be welcoming towards a stranger. On the other hand, nations are allowed to control their borders.”
As Vance sees it, the Church leadership in the U.S. has “missed an opportunity” to strike a balance on immigration in an age of high migration. He noted that the airplane is “less than 100 years old” and that rapid large-scale immigration is “a very new phenomenon.”
“I do think the Church has to figure out what should the immigration policy of an advanced economy be in a world of mass transit,” he said.
He noted that Christians are called “to be fundamentally hopeful [of] the future.” He disputed arguments that France is on the verge of “civilizational death,” describing it instead as “civilizational risk.”
“[I] think that if France returns to its Christian roots, it can be welcoming to the stranger. It can also protect its borders and in a way that preserves its civilization,” he said.
Catholic bishops pray with President Trump
Denver Archbishop James Golka and over half a dozen fellow U.S. Catholic bishops met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Oct. 22.
White House Faith Director Jenny Korn told EWTN News the meeting was organized by the White House Faith Office “as part of our ongoing engagement with faith leaders of all denominations from across the country.”
In addition to praying with Trump, Korn said several topics were discussed during the meeting, including “religious freedom, the role of the White House Faith Office, school choice, religious visas, and life policy.”
Participants included Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas; Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico; Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas; Bishop William Joensen of Des Moines, Iowa; Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee; and Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, of Oakland, California.
Before concluding the meeting, Golka and his brother bishops gathered around Trump at the Oval Office’s iconic Resolute desk to pray.
Leading the intercession, Golka thanked God “for the gift of our beautiful nation, the gift of our government, and the gift of this office of the presidency” and asked for God’s blessing upon Trump.
Continuing his prayer, Golka also thanked God for “the gift of your Son, Jesus. He’s right here with us. He redeems us, saves us, gives us immense mercy, guidance.”
Golka also invoked the Holy Spirit, asking the Holy Spirit to “surround our country, to protect us against any influence of evil.”
Following the meeting, Golka said in a statement that he “hopes the encounter will foster further dialogue on the sanctity of life, human dignity and other issues of concern to the Catholic Church.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said it had no role in the event.
“This was not something that the USCCB organized. It is not affiliated with the Conference,” said Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokesperson.
Korn also emphasized that the meeting was “not politics” but “policy in action ending with meaningful prayer with and for the president.” In addition to Korn, Paula White-Cain, the president’s longtime spiritual adviser, also attended the meeting.
The USCCB and the Trump administration have been aligned on various issues, including religious liberty and gender ideology, along with some of Trump’s pro-life initiatives.
There have also been sharp disagreements on other issues, including the administration’s failure to reverse the Biden administration’s policy on mail-order abortion drugs, the president’s support of IVF, and the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Chicago artist creates Marian icon for Pope Leo XIV, who will keep the image in his bedroom
A Chicago iconographer had just one week to create an icon of Our Lady of Good Counsel for Pope Leo XIV. The finished work made its way to the Vatican, where the Holy Father received it during a private audience and plans to keep it close and use in his personal prayer.
Joseph Malham is a Chicago-based iconographer who was commissioned to do the piece by Michael Airdo, an attorney from Chicago who had a planned trip to visit the pope and wanted to give him a special gift. Given the Holy Father’s Augustinian roots, Airdo decided to give him an image of Our Lady of Good Counsel, which holds a special place in the Augustinian tradition.
The devotion is rooted in a centuries-old image of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child venerated at the Basilica Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, entrusted to the Augustinians. The order has promoted devotion to Mary under this title for centuries.
After Pope Leo was elected, he traveled to Genazzano — which is about 40 miles southeast of Rome — to pray before the image located in the basilica.
Airdo sent Malham an email inquiring if the icon could be completed, but there was a catch — he only had one week to do it.
“I said, ‘It can be done,’” Malham told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Veronica Dudo on Oct. 21. “I’m single so who cares if I don’t sleep and don’t eat for a week. The question is, can I do it? And I did it.”
He added: “A week later, when Michael [Airdo] was in Rome, he sent me a photo of the Holy Father holding the icon presented to him in a personal, private audience in his library.”
Airdo shared with Malham that Pope Leo was moved when he saw the image and said he would be keeping it on a shelf in his bedroom.
Malham also wrote the Holy Father a letter because he “felt very connected with him.”
“I wrote him and I said how difficult it is — please keep me in your prayers — because it is difficult, it’s a long journey being a self-published artist and an iconographer,” he shared. “But I said, so is being any vocation. So was being married and being a priest and in religious life and being the successor of St. Peter. We’re all together. Itʼs the communion of saints. And I felt that kind of closed the distance and bonded us together.”
In the popeʼs response, he mentioned praying for Malham and his vocation and asked the iconographer to keep him in his prayers as well.
As for how this experience has made him feel, Malham said: “It’s almost too overwhelming to know that the successor of St. Peter not only has my icon, but is going to personally journey with it in his prayer life and he’s going to keep it close to him.”
“No words suffice. I could rest in the silence of the beauty of that moment and that connectivity is the sacred connection.”
U.S. bishops urge continued immigration protections for Ukrainians, Salvadorans
Catholic bishops warned that uncertainty over immigration protections for Ukrainians and Salvadorans could result in deportations and family disruption if temporary protected status (TPS) lapses.
On Oct. 19, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted an alert saying Ukrainian TPS beneficiaries would continue to retain protections, including employment authorization, pending an announcement “made at the appropriate time.” The agency posted a similar announcement about El Salvador TPS as a Sept. 9 expiration deadline passed.
TPS is an immigration status granted to eligible foreign nationals from designated countries that are deemed unsafe to return to due to ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions.
U.S. bishops said with more than 170,000 Salvadorans and about 100,000 Ukrainians estimated to hold TPS, the administration should “carefully consider conditions in countries of origin and the threats to human life that could come with forcibly repatriating people.” The bishops urged the government to provide meaningful notice about the future of the designations so that families, employers, and communities can plan accordingly, a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) statement said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which determines whether to extend or end TPS, said in a statement to EWTN News on Oct. 22 that Ukrainians and Salvadorans with TPS will “retain protection” under the program until the agency announces a final decision on the future of the designations.
El Salvador first received TPS in 2001 after devastating earthquakes, and the designation has been repeatedly renewed since then. The U.S. first granted TPS to Ukrainians in April 2022, after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion starting Feb. 24, 2022, made conditions unsafe for many Ukrainians to return home. The United Nations has verified more than 13,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine, while warning the actual toll is likely much higher.
Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chair-elect of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said many Ukrainians relying on TPS in the United States have no home to go back to, according to the USCCB update.
“In recent months, DHS terminated TPS designations for various countries, often while existing conditions in those countries make return of large numbers of people unsafe or impractical,” according to a USCCB statement on Sept. 24.
The Trump administration has moved to end TPS for people from more than a dozen countries since 2025, and Lebanon TPS is set to end Nov. 27. TPS for Haiti ended July 27.
Pathway to legal status
U.S. bishops have continued to support legislative efforts “to provide a pathway to permanent legal status for longtime residents of the United States.” Bishops have supported legislation such as H.R. 1589 that would provide a pathway to permanent residency for certain “dreamers” (those brought to the U.S. illegally as children by family) and other immigrants with temporary protections while expanding access to green cards for some TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, “would create a long-term solution for those in this situation who have contributed positively to the fabric of American life and have established equities in the country, such as having U.S.-citizen spouses and children, owning businesses, and more,” the USCCB statement said.
Another bill (H.R. 10740) introduced in the U.S. House on Oct. 5 would extend temporary protected status for eligible Ukrainians by redesignating protections until July 1, 2029.
In April, the House passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.
‘In limbo’
Without any formal notice from DHS about the status of El Salvador’s TPS, it has left communities “in limbo,” said Lizbeth Iniguez, immigration attorney at Alba Law in Long Beach, California.
“At the moment, we hear a lot of fear, especially in the Salvadoran community … we can only tell them how to prepare,” Iniguez said.
David Spicer, USCCB’s policy and engagement director, said Catholic Charities and other Church ministries are seeing growing demand as families lose legal protections and work authorization.
“They’re seeing people having to grapple with the loss of the legal protection, their work authorization, families struggling to make ends meet. Then more people turn to Catholic services for things like food and housing assistance,” Spicer said.
Uncertainty about TPS status could expose longtime U.S. residents to deportation, family separation, and the loss of work authorization, according to U.S. bishops.
“I think Haiti is probably the most serious example of this. It is objectively unsafe for large numbers of people to be forcibly repatriated to Haiti at this time,” Spicer said. “When you consider that this is also a factor in several other countries where they are no longer TPS designations … it really does set up the opportunity, if not the loss of human life, then the harm that could be inflicted on the people.”
Spicer said the TPS uncertainty also was “going to hurt employers … they’re having an even harder time because they’ve lost workers who were relying on employment authorization that they had through TPS.”
Archbishop Coakley receives award for anti-death penalty advocacy
Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) honored Archbishop Paul Coakley with an award for his public opposition to the death penalty during its Justice Reimagined Awards and Celebration at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C.
Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, received CMN’s Archbishop Fiorenza Dignity and Life Award, named after civil rights advocate and death penalty abolitionist Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, at the Oct. 21 event.
Coakley, a longtime advocate against the death penalty including in his home state of Oklahoma, earlier this month condemned the Trump administration’s plan to livestream the military execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter, Nidal Hasan. “Our God is the God of life,” he said in an Oct. 9 statement. “In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
“It goes without saying that Iʼm very humbled and honored by this this award,” Coakley said during his acceptance speech. “Archbishop Fiorenza was a true champion whom I knew as the president of the bishops’ conference when I was a brand-new bishop, and I had always admired his work and his convictions and his principles.”
“Being in the United States of America at this time has really turned my attention more toward advocating for the condemned on death row and the need for us as a people, as a Church, as a nation to recognize the injustice and the inhumanity of what is being done in our name,” he said.
Being in the United States of America at this time has really turned my attention more toward advocating for the condemned on death row and the need for us as a people, as a Church, as a nation to recognize the injustice and the inhumanity of what is being done in our name.”
Archbishop Paul CoakleyArchdiocese of Oklahoma City
Coakley shared that he first became aware of the importance of advocating for life in 1973, the year Roe v. Wade was passed into law and the year he graduated from high school. The law, he said, allowed “the wholesale destruction of the most vulnerable and innocent of human lives on a massive scale.”
“So for many years, in terms of life issues, opposing abortion and advocating for the right to the life of the unborn was really my primary passion and concern,” he said. “Only later did I come to appreciate the meaning of respect for life from conception to its natural end.”
Coakley reflected that over time, “seeing up close that life is sacred and that it is to be preserved” ultimately led to him to the conclusion “that human dignity cannot be forfeited, no matter how heinous the crime that a man or woman has committed.”
He noted that during his time as an archbishop in Oklahoma, he was struck by the notion that his home state, like Florida and Texas, “was very solidly pro-life in terms of supporting the right to life of the unborn” but was “unforgiving” in its embrace of capital punishment.
Coakley spoke out in August against the execution of a condemned murderer in Oklahoma, calling for prayers for both the killer’s victims and the killer himself while urging a “more humane form of justice.”
Concluding his speech, Coakley expressed gratitude to CMN for its advocacy.
“Iʼm encouraged and hopeful, especially in view of some of the things that have been in the news of late, that weʼll all find renewed courage and determination to continue this fight to advocate for the sanctity, the dignity of every human life, from conception to its natural end,” he said.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., delivered a message from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressing his closeness to those gathered for the event.
Elizabeth Bruening, a Catholic and two-time Pulitzer-Prize finalist and writer for The Atlantic, also received a Reimagining Justice Award at the event.
Supreme Court order leaves federal prison transgender services in place for now
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 21 left in place lower-court rulings that require the federal prison system to continue providing transgender-related benefits to inmates.
The unsigned order rejected the Bureau of Prison’s petition to reverse rulings from both the U.S. district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted the government’s request.
The high court’s decision means that the bureau may not implement a policy passed in February that forbids the use of hormone therapy on prisoners who believe themselves to be the opposite sex. The rule also forbids “social accommodations” including wigs and makeup.
The suit against the Bureau of Prisons was brought by several inmates who identify as transgender.
LGBT-related policy at federal prisons has been in flux following President Donald Trump’s 2024 election. Earlier that year, the Biden Justice Department had signaled that prisons throughout the United States must provide prisoners with transgender-related medical care, including “hormone therapy” and other gender-related requests.
Just after taking office in January 2025, on the other hand, Trump issued an executive order that purported to combat “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex.” Among the provisions of that order was a directive ordering the Bureau of Prisons to “[revise] its policies concerning medical care” to move away from gender-related provisions.
Jerusalem patriarchs and church leaders condemn settler attacks in Taybeh, call for accountability
The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem condemned an attack by “masked settlers” against Palestinian olive farmers and visiting European diplomats and officials in Taybeh, a town east of Ramallah in the central West Bank. The attack happened during an olive harvest event coordinated with the town’s Latin Patriarchate parish.
Calling the violence “not an isolated incident,” leaders have urged authorities to hold those responsible accountable and protect residents.
The attack followed another violent incident in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, when a Washington Post photojournalist was attacked and seriously injured by Israeli settlers while she and other journalists were covering the olive harvest there.
In a statement following the Oct. 17 attack, the church leaders said Palestinian villages across the West Bank were experiencing widespread settler violence during the olive harvest, when families return to their land to gather their crops and renew ties stretching back generations.
“This wild attack on the Christian village of Taybeh and against its peaceful population is not an isolated incident. In the past weeks the Palestinian villages of the West Bank have been exposed to a wide-scale terror by settlers, which is reaching a peak during this time of the olive harvest, when families go to their lands to collect what they need to live and renew their generations-long bond with their lands,” the statement said.
The leaders also expressed concern over a recently published religious ruling permitting Jews to take Palestinians’ olives, describing it as “unfounded, very worrying and dangerous, and absolutely unacceptable.” They welcomed the public rejection of the ruling by several rabbis and other Jewish voices.
Those targeted in the attack included diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland. The mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, Bernard Baudoux, was physically assaulted, and a Belgian consular vehicle was damaged. Independent international reporting corroborated the attack.
Israeli authorities said they had opened an investigation and later announced arrests.
The attack occurred during a harvest that provides a vital source of income for Palestinian families and reflects farmers’ generations-long connection to their land. The targeting of a delegation that included European diplomats also brought wider international diplomatic attention to the violence facing Palestinian farmers.
The church leaders welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s condemnation of the attack and the steps taken by Israeli police. They said, however, that conditions on the ground showed the attacks were continuing because of the perpetrators’ “impunity.” They expressed hope that law enforcement would continue “in a serious and consistent manner” rather than remain a one-time response.
In August, the Israeli military declared Taybeh a closed military zone, restricting access to nonresidents in what it described as an effort to curb attacks by Israelis in the area. Attacks nevertheless continued, including the Oct. 17 assault on farmers and the visiting European diplomatic delegation.
Taybeh is one of the West Bank’s most prominent remaining Palestinian Christian communities. The church leaders’ appeal therefore concerns more than the protection of a religious site: It addresses the safety of a Christian community whose residents live and work in the town, facing threats to their security, land, and livelihoods, as well as uncertainty over the future of their families and young people.
The church leaders called on the relevant authorities to bring those responsible to justice and urged the international community to intensify efforts to protect the people of Taybeh and the wider West Bank, along with visitors expressing solidarity with them. They reaffirmed their support for Taybeh’s churches and community and pledged to continue working to preserve the Christian presence there.
The leaders’ statement came a day after a high-level U.S. delegation visited Taybeh. The delegation included Brian Burch, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; Riley Barnes, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor; and other U.S. diplomatic and security officials.
The delegation met with Father Bashar Fawadleh, pastor of the Latin Patriarchate parish in Taybeh, and the executive director of the Christian Presence Observatory — Holy Land. They heard accounts of the attacks and their effects on residents’ lives and livelihoods.
Members of the delegation said they took those concerns seriously. Participants in the meeting called for practical measures to protect civilians, ensure access to agricultural land, strengthen accountability, and help Palestinian Christian communities remain in their homeland.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.