{"id":92292,"date":"2026-10-28T17:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T17:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/?p=92292"},"modified":"2026-10-28T18:58:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T18:58:24","slug":"church-officials-speak-about-the-importance-of-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/holy-land\/church-officials-speak-about-the-importance-of-pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Officials Speak About the Importance of Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\" id=\"wpb-content-root\"><div data-vc-full-width=\"true\" data-vc-full-width-temp=\"true\" data-vc-full-width-init=\"false\" data-vc-stretch-content=\"true\" class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1793208779253 vc_row-has-fill vc_row-no-padding\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Church Leaders in Jerusalem Encourage Pilgrims to Return<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row-full-width vc_clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-6\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><style type=\"text\/css\" data-type=\"the7_shortcodes-inline-css\">.shortcode-single-image-wrap.shortcode-single-image-4f7d01c85cac637761723d2f9b6d8be6.enable-bg-rollover .rollover i,\n.shortcode-single-image-wrap.shortcode-single-image-4f7d01c85cac637761723d2f9b6d8be6.enable-bg-rollover .rollover-video i {\n  background: -webkit-linear-gradient();\n  background: linear-gradient();\n}\n.shortcode-single-image-wrap.shortcode-single-image-4f7d01c85cac637761723d2f9b6d8be6 .rollover-icon {\n  font-size: 32px;\n  color: #ffffff;\n  min-width: 44px;\n  min-height: 44px;\n  line-height: 44px;\n  border-radius: 100px;\n  border-style: solid;\n  border-width: 0px;\n}\n.dt-icon-bg-on.shortcode-single-image-wrap.shortcode-single-image-4f7d01c85cac637761723d2f9b6d8be6 .rollover-icon {\n  background: rgba(255,255,255,0.3);\n  box-shadow: none;\n}<\/style><div class=\"shortcode-single-image-wrap shortcode-single-image-4f7d01c85cac637761723d2f9b6d8be6 alignnone  enable-bg-rollover dt-icon-bg-off\" style=\"margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px;\"><div class=\"shortcode-single-image\"><div class=\"fancy-media-wrap  layzr-bg\" style=\"\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"preload-me lazy-load aspect\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D&#39;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg&#39;%20viewBox%3D&#39;0%200%201200%20800&#39;%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Holy-Land-Group-1.png\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Holy-Land-Group-1.png 1200w\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\"  data-dt-location=\"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/home\/attachment\/holy-land-group-1\/\" style=\"--ratio: 1200 \/ 800;\" alt=\"Pilgrims Overlooking Jerusalem, Israel\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-6\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h2 data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">Fr. Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land<\/h2>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 &#091;&#093;\">Fr. Francesco Ielpo is the Franciscan Custos responsible for the Holy Places visited in the Holy Land. In January and February 2026, he called upon Christians to resume pilgrimages.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that visiting the Holy Land is not simply about exploring historical monuments. It is an encounter with a living Christian community whose faith continues despite extraordinary challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The return of pilgrims supports local families, guides, accommodations, and businesses that depend on religious tourism. It also sends a powerful message of solidarity to Christians who continue to preserve their presence in the land where Christianity began.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Read the Vatican News article reporting on the importance of pilgrims returning to support local Christian communities.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/en\/church\/news\/2026-01\/custos-holy-land-pilgrimages-support-hope-faithful-jerusalem.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_custom_1793208725705\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_separator wpb_content_element vc_separator_align_center vc_sep_border_width_1 vc_sep_pos_align_center vc_separator_no_text wpb_content_element  wpb_content_element\"   style=\"width: 100%;\"><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_l\"><span style=\"border-top-color:#0000008C;\" class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"vc_sep_holder vc_sep_holder_r\"><span style=\"border-top-color:#0000008C;\" class=\"vc_sep_line\"><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vc_grid-container-wrapper vc_clearfix vc_grid-animation-fadeIn\">\n\t<div class=\"vc_grid-container vc_clearfix wpb_content_element vc_media_grid\" style=\"--vc-grid-arrows-color:#5472D2;--vc-grid-paging-color:#EBEBEB;\" data-initial-loading-animation=\"fadeIn\" data-vc-grid-settings=\"{&quot;page_id&quot;:92292,&quot;style&quot;:&quot;all&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:&quot;vc_get_vc_grid_data&quot;,&quot;shortcode_id&quot;:&quot;1793209107155-6efd69a95e010b5d269ef9eb09d42fdf-4&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;vc_media_grid&quot;}\" data-vc-request=\"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" data-vc-post-id=\"92292\" data-vc-public-nonce=\"506ca27cab\">\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Church Leaders in Jerusalem Encourage Pilgrims to Return Fr. Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Francesco Ielpo is the Franciscan Custos responsible for the Holy Places visited in the Holy Land. In January and February 2026, he called upon Christians to resume pilgrimages. He emphasized that visiting the Holy Land is not simply&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":91206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[1016],"class_list":["post-92292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land","tag-renew-the-holy-land","category-240","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitypilgrimage.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}