Benedictine Abbot Warns Holy Land Risks Becoming a Christian Disneyland
Dom Nikodemus Schnabel, the Benedictine Abbot in Jerusalem, says the Holy Land's Christian population has fallen below two percent and warns that holy sites could become empty symbols without living communities.
Dom Nikodemus Schnabel, the Benedictine Abbot in Jerusalem, has warned that the Holy Land risks becoming a "Christian Disneyland" as the region's Christian population continues to shrink.
Christians now make up less than two percent of the total population in the Holy Land. Schnabel said that even in highly secularized parts of Europe, Christians are more numerous. He noted that reaching five or six percent would represent a significant improvement.
"Without living Christian communities in places like Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, the holy places risk becoming heritage without witnesses," Schnabel said.
He attributed the decline to war, economic hardship, and uncertainty. About 60 percent of Arabic-speaking Christians depend on tourism for their livelihoods, a sector devastated since 2019 by the pandemic, conflict, and instability.
Schnabel identified three main Christian groups in the region: Arabic-speaking Palestinian Catholics, Hebrew-speaking Catholics, and migrants and asylum seekers. The migrant group is the largest, estimated at nearly 100,000 Catholics, primarily from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
He described conditions faced by many migrant Christian workers as "a form of modern slavery," citing passport confiscation, limited freedom to change employers, and family separation.
Schnabel also noted growing hostility from extremist Jewish groups, including spitting, vandalism, arson attacks, and hate graffiti. He said this phenomenon "can no longer be considered marginal."
He called on supporters to prioritize housing and job creation to help Christian families remain in the region.
