Because You Believe

This summer, something sacred will unfold in the heart of the Holy Land: young Palestinian women and men will walk across the graduation stage at Bethlehem University, full of gratitude, courage, and hope.

Each of these students carries a story—of resilience, of perseverance, and of deep longing for a future rooted in dignity and peace. And each of them walks that stage because someone like you believed in them.

Your generosity makes all the difference.

Thanks to your ongoing support, these students have received more than an education. They have received the confidence to lead, the tools to serve, and the strength to remain rooted in their land and their faith.

Bethlehem University is not just a school—it is an economic engine for the city of Bethlehem, an incubator of creative minds and applied talent, and—it is a sanctuary of hope in a land too often marked by division.

“The Church will never tire of repeating:

let weapons be silenced.

I would like to thank God for all those who,

in silence, prayer and self-sacrifice,

are sowing seeds of peace.”

— Pope Leo XIV

Address to Participants in the Jubilee of Oriental Churches

May 14, 2025