Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Hospital by Christ’s birthplace struggles to operate amid war

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By Judith Sudilovsky OSV News The Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, located just 1,500 steps from the birthplace of Christ, is confronting significant challenges amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip 45 miles away. The hospital, the premier maternity hospital and neonatal critical care center in the Bethlehem region of […]

Tourists lift Bethlehem’s spirits

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By Judith Sudilovsky Catholic News Service BETHLEHEM, West Bank — On the third Sunday of Advent the pews of St. Catherine Church were overflowing, with families and young children, teens and older parishioners attending Mass in anticipation of Christmas. Pilgrim groups waited outside in the courtyard and, in the Church of Nativity, adjacent to the […]

Bethlehem family feels privileged to live in a holy place

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By Judith Sudilovsky Catholic News Service BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Brothers Peter and Eli Hosh grew up knowing that their hometown was not only the place where they went to school and ran down to the corner market for their mother, but the town where Jesus was born. It is a lesson they and their […]

Pope Francis returns part of relic of Jesus’ crib to Holy Land

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — As Advent approached, Pope Francis gave a small fragment of Jesus’ crib back to Catholics in the Holy Land. In Bethelehem, West Bank, Franciscan Father Rami Asakrieh of St. Catherine Church welcomed the relic’s return and called it “a great blessing.” “This is more blessings for […]

Photo: A gift from Bethlehem

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Siham and Ghassan Al Sahouri of Little Bethlehem Christians, a small business and mission which regularly brings religious articles from the Holy Land to Hawaii parishes for sale, presented Bishop Larry Silva with a handcrafted crucifix as a gift, Dec. 14 at the bishop’s office. The crucifix is made from olive wood and includes at […]