Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, apostolic nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, condemned an arson attack on the parish in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Vatican News reported that during the attack, “alleged radicalized young Muslims” vandalized a Christmas tree on December 22. Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem traveled to Jenin to dedicate a new Christmas tree the next day.
The attack cast “a big, heavy shadow on the Christmas spirit’s joy that all our Christian communities, and even non-Christian, have begun to celebrate after two years of being limited to very simple manifestations,” said Archbishop Yllana. “We condemn this absolutely, because we are supposed to live as brothers here.”