Jerusalem —
In an extraordinary and unusually blunt declaration, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have publicly rebuked Christian Zionism, warning that the ideology is actively harming Christian unity and accelerating the erosion of Christianity’s historic presence in the Holy Land.
The statement, dated January 17, 2026, is not a theological footnote. It is a warning flare — issued collectively by the guardians of Christianity’s oldest churches — that an externally driven political-religious movement is claiming authority it does not have and endangering communities that have survived on this land since the first century.
A Rare Public Confrontation
Church leaders do not often speak this directly. When they do, it signals a crisis.
The Patriarchs state plainly that individuals promoting Christian Zionism have misled the public, sown confusion, and fractured Christian unity, while enjoying backing from political actors “in Israel and beyond.” The implication is unmistakable: this is not an abstract theological dispute, but a power struggle with real-world consequences.
“These undertakings,” the statement warns, “may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.”
That sentence alone represents a dramatic escalation in tone — effectively accusing Christian Zionism of contributing to the disappearance of Christianity from its own birthplace.
Who Speaks for Christians in the Holy Land?
At the heart of the declaration is a fundamental question: who has the right to speak for Christians who actually live in the Holy Land?
The Patriarchs answer unequivocally.
They assert that only the historic Apostolic Churches of Jerusalem — which have ministered continuously for centuries — possess legitimate authority over Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the region. Any claims made outside that communion, they say, wound the Church and burden its mission.
This is a direct rejection of Christian Zionist figures, many based in the United States and Europe, who claim to represent “biblical Christianity” while promoting political agendas disconnected from the lived reality of local Christians.
Political Access, Ecclesiastical Exclusion
Perhaps the most revealing portion of the statement is its concern that Christian Zionist actors have been welcomed at official levels, both locally and internationally, despite lacking legitimacy among the churches of Jerusalem.
Church leaders describe this as interference in the internal life of the Church — language rarely used unless lines have been crossed.
The message is stark: political platforms are being given to outside ideologues while the voices of indigenous Christians are sidelined in decisions affecting their own survival.
History That Refuses to Stay Buried
While the statement itself is measured, the context surrounding it is not.
During the events surrounding the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, more than 90,000 Palestinian Christians were displaced alongside their Muslim neighbors. Historic Christian towns were emptied. Dozens of churches were abandoned, confiscated, or closed as congregations were scattered across the Middle East and the global diaspora.
This displacement — remembered by Palestinians as the Nakba — marked the first mass uprooting of indigenous Christian communities from the Holy Land in modern history.
Since then, the Christian population has steadily declined, not because of theology, but because of land loss, restrictions on movement, economic strangulation, and political marginalization.
Christian Zionism: A Theology Imported, Not Inherited
Christian Zionism, by contrast, is a modern Western ideology, largely developed in 19th-century Europe and later expanded in the United States. It interprets biblical texts through a political lens that prioritizes territorial control and state power, often treating local Christians as incidental — or invisible.
That disconnect is at the heart of the Patriarchs’ condemnation.
In their statement, church leaders say Christian Zionist activism has misled the public, sown confusion, and harmed the unity of the Church, while receiving encouragement from political actors “in Israel and beyond.”
This is not abstract criticism. It is an indictment of a movement that claims to defend Christianity while dismissing the Christians who actually live under its consequences.
Political Access Without Ecclesiastical Legitimacy
The Patriarchs express particular alarm that Christian Zionist figures have been welcomed at official levels internationally, despite lacking recognition or legitimacy among the churches of Jerusalem.
They describe this as interference in the internal life of the Church — a serious charge in ecclesiastical language.
In effect, the statement accuses outside ideologues of speaking over indigenous Christians, shaping policy narratives while bypassing the very institutions that have preserved Christian life in the Holy Land for centuries.
A Long Pattern of Marginalization
For local Christians, this pattern is familiar.
They have watched international powers negotiate borders without them, holy sites politicized without their consent, and theology weaponized in ways that leave them more vulnerable, not less.
The Patriarchs’ insistence that they alone represent the Christian communities of the Holy Land is a direct rejection of that history of exclusion.
It is also a reminder: Christianity does not need foreign guardians who ignore its oldest witnesses.
A Warning, Not a Debate
This statement is not a request for dialogue. It is a warning.
By invoking Scripture — “we, though many, are one body in Christ” — the Patriarchs frame Christian Zionism not merely as a political miscalculation, but as a theological rupture that substitutes ideology for communion and power for pastoral care.
The declaration closes with a prayer for wisdom and protection — language that underscores how precarious the situation has become for Christians living under occupation, political pressure, and growing international indifference.
Why This Matters Now
Christianity in the Holy Land is shrinking at an alarming rate. Churches that once anchored entire communities now struggle to keep their doors open. Young Christians leave not because of faith, but because of survival.
When the churches of Jerusalem speak with one voice, it is because silence is no longer an option.
And what they are saying now is unmistakable: Christian Zionism is not protecting Christians in the Holy Land — it is helping to erase them
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