Saint James Vicariate For Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel

Pastoral Ministry of the Saint James Vicariate

The mission of the Saint James Vicariate is to serve the Hebrew-speaking and the Russian-speaking Catholics living in Israel. We have seven parish communities, five Hebrew Speaking (Jerusalem, Jaffa, Beer Sheba, Haifa, Tiberias) and two Russian-speaking (Haifa, Latroun). These communities are served by a group of priests who try to meet the challenges of gathering the scattered faithful into supportive Catholic communities. Twice a year, the Vicariate organizes “Community days” (Yom Kehillot) where all our faithful are invited to gather, pray together, have shared activities and strengthen their mutual bonds.

An essential part of our ministry goes towards the children and the youth of the Saint James Vicariate. It is important to specify that our ministry extends to the Hebrew speaking children of migrant workers (predominantly Filipino, Indian, African, Sri Lankan, Latin American and Eastern European) and asylum seekers (mostly Eritrean and Sudanese):

- During the academic year, we provide regular Catechism lessons in Hebrew for the children, essentially in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We have after-school activities for those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation, generally at the age of 12 or 13. We also organize five children camps a year, according to age groups. These camps are for the children a unique opportunity to have an experience of the Church, as most live in an Israeli secular society and do not attend Catholic schools.

- There are separate youth groups for those aged 14 – 16 and 17-25. Often, during the summer, we organize activities that put our youth in contact with Christian youth groups from other countries, which allows them to strengthen their own Christian identity and feel part of the universal Church.

We have Family weekends, generally twice a year, an occasion to share and learn from the Scriptures, the Tradition of the Church, and from our mutual experiences, how to build a solid house, and how to transmit Christian faith to our children.

In the framework of the pastoral ministry towards migrants and asylum seekers in Israel, our Vicariate runs the Saint Rachel Center that is situated on the ground of the Capuchin Convent in Talbiyyeh, in West Jerusalem. It was founded in 2016 in order to offer a place to the children of migrants and asylum seekers where they can receive daily attention, care and assistance.