By Linda Bordoni

Bethlehem’s recently appointed mayor, Maher Nicola Canawati, met Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday morning after the General Audience, carrying with him the concerns of his people and a plea for peace and hope in the Holy Land.

“Actually, the first letter that I wrote when I became the Mayor of Bethlehem was a letter to the Pope, because we believe that from here we can do many things and we can support our people,” he said. “And the most important thing is to give them hope.”

The mayor explained that emigration continues to drain Bethlehem and other Palestinian cities, draining the Holy Land of its Christian presence.

“People have been leaving Bethlehem, leaving Palestine because of what’s happening and what’s going on,” he said, noting that settlements surrounding Bethlehem now rival the city’s own population and put much pressure on resources.

Meeting with the Pope

Mayor Canawati, who was appointed in May, said Pope Leo XIV responded to his request for a personal meeting.

“I had a good time explaining to the Pope how important it is to intervene in what’s happening in Palestine, in Gaza, in Bethlehem, and to preserve the living stones of the Holy Land, because the Holy Land without the living stones is just a mere museum,” he said.

And describing his meeting with the Holy Father, he added, “Always, before I talk about Bethlehem, I always pray. And that was my first sentence to the Pope: to intervene so we can stop this war, stop what’s happening to our people in Gaza. And I think this is the top priority that we actually talked about, and he agreed.”

Bethlehem and Christians under pressure

The mayor painted a stark picture of life in Bethlehem today. “Bethlehem used to be 37 km². Now, after the annexation and the settlements and the separation wall that separated Bethlehem from its sister and its heart – Jerusalem – for the first time in history, means that we’re dealing with a lot of problems as Bethlemites,” he explained.

Again, he highlighted his concern for the declining numbers of Palestinian Christians in the Palestinian territories.

“The Palestinian Christians are now only 168,000 in the Holy Land, while there are over 4 million Palestinian Christians all over the world. That by itself shows how much pressure there is on the Christians,” he noted.

Canawati, himself a Christian, explained that by law, the mayor of Bethlehem must be Christian, a provision upheld by Palestinian leaders “because they want to preserve the Christian community, the oldest Christian community in the world that lives in Bethlehem, in the Holy Land, in Palestine.”

Yet many are still leaving. “It breaks my heart for anybody to leave Bethlehem,” he said, noting that in the past year alone, over 1000 Christians got approval “for their immigration to Canada, the United States and other countries.”

Collapse of tourism and the economy

Bethlehem’s economy, dependent on pilgrimage and hospitality, has been devastated since the outbreak of war on 7 October 2023.

“Now, after 7 of October, we have a drop, a deep drop down to 0%. All of the hotels, that’s 84 hotels, are totally closed. The souvenir shops, the workshops that produce the beautiful olive woodwork, the mother of pearl and the jewellery that we produce in Bethlehem are closed. Totally closed,” Canawati said.

He described soaring unemployment. “The unemployment rate jumped from 14 to 65% and as you know, people are denied access work within the Israeli areas.”

More than 120,000 Bethlemites, he said, used to work outside the city, “some of them had loans, and now they don’t have even to put bread on their table.”

Water

Water scarcity and restricted movement further exacerbate the situation, choking the people. Canawati explained that water is rationed as Palestinians in Bethlehem are not allowed to dig and take their own water: “We buy our water from the Israelis, and they only sell us one fifth of what a person would need per day.”

“Some areas in Bethlehem don’t get water for 50 days, 60 days,” the mayor lamented, adding that over 134 barriers and checkpoints – even inside the city – hinder movement, depriving people not only of their freedom, but of the means to provide for their families and build a future.

Appeal for solidarity and hope

Maher Canawati said the surge of solidarity that he has recently experienced in Italy and in other nations makes a tangible difference: “I think this gives more hope to the people, that there is someone caring about us, and they haven’t forgotten about us.”

He pointed to the support of the Latin Patriarchate and local clergy as “the best hope for now that we’re getting in Bethlehem.”

As for how the global community can help, he appealed for support to local organisations: “To support the people so they don’t leave. And that is the most important thing that we’re trying to do right now.”