On January 17, Pope Francis received a delegation from the Custody of the Holy Land, the Franciscan province there.

“To make known the Holy Land, means communicating the ‘Fifth Gospel,’ that is, the historical and geographical environment in which the Word of God was revealed and incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth, for us and for our salvation,” said Pope Francis. “It also means making known the people who live there today, the life of the Christians of the various churches and denominations, but also that of Jews and Muslims, to attempt to build a fraternal society in a context as complex and difficult as that of the Middle East.”