Catholic Church struggles to maintain Christian presence in Holy Land amid war, political turmoil

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK – The escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories often brings focus on the tensions between Judaism and Islam, the two majority religions in the region.

However, the ongoing war and its sociopolitical ramifications threaten to further smother the already dwindling Christian presence on both sides of a broken Holy Land.

Fox News Digital traveled across Israel and the Palestinian territories to speak with Christian leaders who are fighting to keep the faith alive in the face of political, financial and violent threats to its very existence.

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Christians of all denominations together make up only 2% of the entire population in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Approximately three-quarters of Christians in the region are Arab and tend to belong to ancient, apostolic denominations such as the Greek Orthodox, Coptic and Catholic churches.

If one superimposes modern geopolitical borders over a map showing the route Jesus Christ took throughout the Biblical narrative, it shows that the messiah's birth, ministry, death and resurrection are not confined to either Israel or the Palestinian territories.

While Christians in the Holy Land may have Israeli or Palestinian passports, their faith does not align itself exclusively with either government. Nor is either government particularly sympathetic to the Christian mission of evangelization and custody of sacred sites within their borders.

Priests and lay leaders in the Catholic Church – the largest denomination in the Holy Land – are not uniform in their thoughts about the conflict and the path forward for their church. But it's