CHRISTIANS IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE

THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE

According to the Book of Acts, it was in Jerusalem that the disciples received the Holy Spirit (at Pentecost), and it was from there that they began to spread the news of Christ. Jerusalem was where the earliest Christian community (initially a sect of Judaism) formed, under the leadership of St Peter and St James the Just (later described as the first Bishop of Jerusalem).

In the first few centuries AD, Christianity spread out from the Roman province of Judea (Israel-Palestine today) to other parts of the empire. As it became distinct from Judaism, Christians faced frequent persecution and had to practise their faith in secret.

As Christianity was slowly increasing in the Judea, a series of Jewish rebellions, brutally supressed by the Romans, led to the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the City of Jerusalem as well as a scattering of the Jewish population. Jerusalem was replaced by the Roman City of Aelia Capitolina while the area now known as Israel-Palestine was given the name of “Syria-Palestina” and then “Palestine”. Following Emperor Constantine’s edict of Milan in 313, Christianity became a recognized religion, and Syria Palestina quickly became a place of pilgrimage. In the 320s, construction began of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Eleona (Olives) on the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Other early churches include St Porphyrius in Gaza, said to have been built as early as AD 425 (although the current structure dates to the 12th century). Find out more about St Porphyrius.

Although Jerusalem was seen as the spiritual heartland of Christianity, the early church was divided into four Patriarchates: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria. Jerusalem did not become an official patriarchate until AD 451, at the Council of Chalcedon. Disagreements at this council led to a split in the church and the formation of a body of churches called monofisite (including the Copts, the Syrians, and the Armenians). Those who did not accept the decisions of Chalcedon (which were backed by the Empire) became the Oriental Church while those that did (which included the Jerusalem Patriarchate) became known as the Melkites (meaning royal or emperor).

By the 7th century, Palestine had become a major multi-cultural and multi-ethnic centre of Christian pilgrimage, monasticism and culture. But when it was conquered by the advancing Muslim armies in the 630s, the region’s Christians once again experienced periodic persecution and were reduced to dhimmi status, which allowed them to continue to practise their faith, but under certain restrictions.

At the Great Schism (1054), the Jerusalem Patriarchate joined with that of Antioch and Constantinople, forming the Eastern Orthodox Church, whose language was mainly Greek. During the Crusades of 11th and 12th centuries, a Latin (Catholic) Patriarchate of Jerusalem was briefly established. But the patriarch was forced to flee when the Muslim rulers regained Jerusalem in 1187. However, the Catholic presence in Palestine remained as Franciscan monks were granted permission to oversee the Christian holy sites. A resident Latin patriarch didn’t return to Jerusalem until 1847.

Under the Ottoman Empire, Christians in Palestine continued to be tolerated (as dhimmi), and the Eastern Orthodox Church was again dominant. It was during this time that the local Eastern Patriarchate was dominated by the Greek clergy. The period saw a power struggle between the various denominations for control of the major Christian sites. This led to the Status Quo in 1757, which formalised the sharing of three key religious sites in Bethlehem and Jerusalem – an agreement which still holds today.

Following a dispute over the election of the Antioch patriarch, the Eastern Orthodox Church split in the 18th century. One side re-established communion with Rome (while continuing to use the Eastern Orthodox liturgy), leading to the formation of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church. Today, the Melkites make up 60% of Christians in the Holy Land.

In the 19th century, Protestant churches began to be established – including Anglican and Lutheran, but they have remained small in number.

After the First World War, control of Palestine passed to the British until their withdrawal in 1948, when the territory was split and the state of Israel established. In the upheavals that followed, Christian communities had a mixed experience. Some were able to stay in their homes, but many were forced to leave. Today they, like Palestinian Muslims, have their community split between territories: Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

In the last decade, the Christian population of Israel has risen, mainly due to immigration – mixed Jewish/Christian families from Russia and economic migrants, particularly from Africa. In the West Bank, the number of Christians has remained fairly stable, although there has been a rise in migration in recent years. In Gaza, the population has been steadily falling and is now facing existential threat. There were fewer than 1,000 Christians in Gaza at the end of 2023.