Photo: The Church of St. George, located in the small Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the West Bank. (J. McDowell/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmcdowell/5475948644/)

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June 21st, 2026

To all members of the CCCB

Your Excellencies,

Our organization addresses you with respect and urgency. We write to plead that you speak up for all who live in the Holy Land, particularly the minority of Palestinian Christians whose villages are being targeted by Israeli settler militias. The ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land includes Palestinian Christians whose roots go back to the time of Our Lord.

The Palestinian village of Taybeh in the West Bank has been particularly affected by extremist settler, terrorist violence. Taybeh is known in the Bible as “Ephraim”, the town Jesus sought refuge in when the authorities in Jerusalem sought to arrest him after he raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:54). It is the oldest - and now only - fully Christian village in the West Bank.

This tragedy is highlighted in the June 12, 2026 D&P report “TAYBEH burning: Israeli settlers set Christian village alight, impede firefighters” https://devp.org/en/taybeh-burning/

We join our voices with Development and Peace, Christians for a Free Palestine, and in solidarity with Christians in Taybeh and all Palestinians, no matter their faith tradition, resisting occupation and settler violence. Today, Taybeh is surrounded by 6 illegal Israeli settlements, and its residents are subjected to an increasing campaign of violence.

As Catholics, we are deeply disturbed by this reality. Within the Jewish community such as Independent Jewish Voices-Canada it is acknowledged that Zionism is an ideology of ethno-religious supremacy and its proponents are actively engaged in preventing the realization of a just peace in the land of Jesus’ birth, life, death and Resurrection.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops must speak for justice now. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa, calls for solidarity to protect the vulnerable, historic communities. The Holy Father, Leo XIV, continually calls for an end to the violence and the protection of all civilians. Pax Christi International begs for international support.

The window of opportunity to be on the record explicitly in support of a just peace is closing fast. Failure to do so now is complicity with the genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians—including Palestinian Christians.

We look forward to your statement condemning the attacks on Taybeh and in solidarity with Palestinian Christians and all working for a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis.

Sincerely,

Sylvia Skrepichuk, Chair, CJPHL
Sr. Jean Leahy, Sister of St. Joseph, Toronto
Fr. Paul Hansen, C.Ss.R., Redemptorist Social Justice Consultancy, Toronto
Wendy Gichuru
David Szollozy, retired OECTA-TSU president
Phil Little, retired teacher