Christian worshipers pray during Mass inside St. George Church, also known as the Church of the Ten Lepers, in Burqin, near Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 31, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
The Church of the Ten Lepers' is one of the world's oldest churches and it is built on top of a cave in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Festooned with golden icons, the ancient church attracts thousands of Christian pilgrims every year.
But the Church of the Ten Lepers' own congregation of Palestinian Christians has been growing smaller.
The first church on the site, it was build in the northern West Bank town of Burqin over 1,600 years ago to commemorate a miracle.
Christians believe the cave, which used to be a Roman cistern, is where Jesus healed 10 lepers, who were isolating there to prevent the disease from spreading, as he passed by en route to Jerusalem from Nazareth.
Early Christians faced persecution and the first prayers at the site were made in secret. But in the fourth century, Saint Helena, the mother of the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, decided to build a church there upon visiting the site, said Father Spiridon Shukha.
Shukha, a Greek Orthodox priest, led a recent Friday service at the church before about a dozen worshippers, a congregation dwarfed by the number of general visitors to the church, who Burqin's mayor said in 2019 totaled between 200 and 300 per month.
While holiday services are held on Sundays, throughout most of the year the dwindling local community gathers for prayer on Fridays, when they are off work, said Father Shukha.
Today, only about 70 Palestinian Christians remain in the town of 8,500 people, said Moeen Jabbour, the Church's administrative manager.
"In Palestine, we face several difficulties, including [Israeli] occupation and the economic situation... There are no jobs, so [our youth]... move elsewhere," he said. "This is why Christian presence is shrinking in this town."
Burqin is not alone in experiencing this phenomenon and there are concerns within the Church that many other Christian holy sites in Jesus' birthplace could become mere historical monuments.
According to Protecting Holy Land Christians, a campaign organized by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, the Christian proportion of the population across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has dropped to 2% from 11% about a century ago.
The campaign says Christians are also being driven out by rising acts of violence and vandalism targeting them.
Father Shukha admitted there were challenges, but he has faith in his parish's continued survival as part of the local fabric.
"We are the children of this land. This is where Jesus lived, not Europe or the United States," he said. "It is true there are few of us here, but we call ourselves the salt of the earth because even a pinch of salt can add a lot of flavor to this town."