In an atmosphere filled with joy, love, and a strong sense of family, the Franciscan Boys home in Bethlehem celebrated the 19th anniversary of its foundation, bringing together the members of the Child House family and its staff in a spirit of unity, gratitude, and celebration.

The occasion was marked by a solemn Mass celebrated by Fr. Sandro, Director of the Boy’s home. In his homily, Fr. Sandro highlighted the values of generosity, love, and cooperation, reflecting on the teachings of Jesus Christ, who remains the guide and “Captain of the ship” of our journey and of our home, even amid all the challenges and difficulties we face.

Fr. Sandro emphasized that the mission of the Boys home draws its strength from faith in Christ and from His teachings, recalling His words that give us hope and courage: “Do not be afraid; I am with you until the end of the age.”

The entire Boys home family took part in the celebration, which continued in a joyful and warm family atmosphere. The evening included a shared dinner, followed by the cutting of the anniversary cake, marking this special occasion with gratitude and joy.

As we celebrate this 19th anniversary, we renew our wishes that this blessed journey may continue to flourish, and that the Franciscan Boys home will always remain a place of love, safety, hope, and care, sustained by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ and through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Happy Anniversary to the entire Franciscan Boys home family! May the years ahead be filled with even greater love, service, generosity, and hope.

Franciscan Boys home in Bethlehem continues its guidance and training sessions with parents during the 2026/2027 academic year, as part of the “How Parents Can Deal with Their Children” program, which was launched more than four years ago. The program aims to strengthen the role of the family and provide parents with the knowledge and skills needed to build more conscious, trusting, and supportive relationships with their children.

This year, the program focuses on Christian psychological guidance, with the participation of specialized professionals. Sessions are held every Thursday for two hours. The program is developed according to the priorities and training needs identified by the parents, ensuring that the topics addressed respond to the real needs and challenges faced by families.

The sessions combine psychological, educational, and spiritual dimensions. Each session begins with a Bible reading related to the topic of the meeting, followed by a spiritual reflection led by Fr. Sandro, Director of the Boys Home, offering the participants a spiritual reflection to carry with them throughout the meeting and into their daily lives. The session then continues with the professional guidance and training component.

The program addresses a variety of important topics, including “Me and My Child,” self-awareness, effective communication and interaction, as well as other subjects that contribute to developing parents’ knowledge and skills, strengthening their ability to understand their children and their needs, and building bridges of trust and dialogue within the family.

The program reflects the Franciscan Boys Home’s belief that supporting children begins with supporting their families, and that a family equipped with awareness, communication, and dialogue skills can provide a safer and more nurturing environment for children’s psychological, human, and spiritual growth.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to everyone who contributes to the success of these sessions—specialists, parents, and the Child House team—and to all those who dedicate their time and expertise to serving children and families, convinced that investing in the family is an investment in the future of our children.

Throughout the academic year, Franciscan Boys Home will be conducting meetings with the parents of our boys every Thursday, as was done in the previous year. This year is particularly significant due to our collaboration with Pro Terra Santa, which has provided us with Ms. Ursula Mukarker, the director of Wings of Hope for trauma, who serves as a trauma therapist and trainer. Through valuable workshops, all participants are afforded the opportunity to express themselves and allow God to work through them in addressing the challenges they face.

On the 16th of November 2024, our boys, along with the aspirants from Bethlehem Monastery, harvested olives from our garden, which will provide us with oil for the forthcoming year.

We extend our gratitude to all those who participated in this significant event.

On the 18th of September, 2024, the family of Franciscan Boys Home held a mass of thanksgiving at the Milk Grotto church to commemorate the past 17 years. This solemn occasion was attended by parish priest Fr. Rami Asakrieh, Fr. Noor Tamash, a deacon from Shepherd’s Field, and Fr. Sandro Tomašević, the director of our home. Numerous families of the boys participated, along with many members from the parish of Saint Catherine in Bethlehem.

We express our gratitude to the Lord for all the blessings we have experienced as a family in this place where He was born.

1224 – 2024 – 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata.

Today, 17th of September 2024 church celebrates 800 years from the miraculous event of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata. Our home, whose protectors are Saint Francis and Saint Anthony are celebrating with Franciscans this big jubilee.

“From Wounds, New Life.” – Image Painted By: Br. Jeffrey Tolentino, OFM

Our Chapel in Franciscan Boys Home, painted by the artist from Bethlehem, Tony Aoun in October 2020.

From June 6th to 20th, our boys participated in summer camp activities, starting in Spain and later moving to Bethlehem. We were warmly welcomed by the wonderful parishioners of Boadilla del Monte and their brilliant parish priest, Padre Javier Siegrist. We really enjoyed the 2 weeks spent visiting marvelous cities such as Madrid, Ávila, Segovia, Alcalá, Toledo, and Valencia.

In Ávila, we were welcomed by Mayor Jesús Manuel Sánchez Cabrera, visited the municipality, and explored the Walls of Avila. Most importantly, we visited the Carmel of Ávila and met a sister who has lived there her entire life. In Toledo, we were welcomed by Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves, Mayor Carlos Velázquez, and the Toledo Seminary, where they welcomed us to lunch and provided a place to rest.

In Valencia, we were warmly welcomed by the amazing people who prepared traditional paella for us and took us to the stadium and the cathedral. At the cathedral, we saw the original chalice used by Jesus during the Last Supper, and at the sanctuary of Virgen de los Desamparados, the rector provided us with an exceptional tour. In Segovia, Alcalá, Madrid, and the previously mentioned Toledo and Ávila, we were always greeted by local people and tour guides who did their best to show us the sites with great expertise.

Above all, we were embraced by over 80 members of the parish of Boadilla del Monte. They took care of us as if we were their family during those 2 weeks. Mrs. Maru Beneytez, along with many local families, who were our hosts made this the most memorable trip in the history of our home. The many friendships and kind people we met were the highlights of this journey. We will never forget their kind hearts and the initiatives that helped our boys integrate quickly into the local culture. We also met the local youth group, participated in adoration, attended masses in both Arabic and Spanish, and did so many other activities we will surely never forget.

We also want to thank Father Rashid in Amman for his hospitality during our stay. He went out of his way to make us feel welcome. We visited Mount Nebo, the Royal Automobile Museum, and the Children’s Museum of Jordan.

From August 20th to 28th, we had the second part of our camp in Bethlehem, where we visited churches in Beit Sahour, Cremisan, Catholic Action, and many other activities in our home. On August 26th, Abouna Tony Hayin, who is in charge of the Baylasan Center, did a very insightful course on counseling and understanding more about our personalities and how we are created in His image. We also visited the House of Peace lead by the Polish sisters and particulary sister Stephanie where we shared extraordinary morning with them both in mass and sports activites concluded with delicious lunch.

We really want to thank everybody that helped us financially and spirituality so that these boys could really feel welcomed wherever they went. May God really recompense the for all their good deeds.

Few days before Christmas, on 22nd of December 2023, fr. Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land and fr. Peter Vasko, president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and fr. George Haddad, director of Terra Santa school in Bethlehem and vice-parish priest visited our home and delivered Christmas presents for our boys.

In the Holy Mass that preceded the event of the presents to our boys, fr. Francesco Patton celebrated and preached about the great mistery of the Incarnation that happened just few meters away from our home, that changed all the history once and forever.

After the Mass, there was a little show that our boys prepared, celebrating the Custos 60th birthday, and of course the moment that our boys waited for weeks, opening the presents and celebrating the mistery of Christmas with their families afterwards.

13th of September 2023, Franciscan Boys Home celebrated 16 years of it’s foundation. On the Holy Mass which was led by father Ibrahim Faltas, vice-custos of the Custody of the Holy Land he thanked all the previous friars that were in charge of this home and he pointed out the importance of this home for the city where Jesus was born, as well the mission that the Franciscan have in the Holy Land.

This mass was concelebrated also by father Amjad Sabbara (the founder of the home), father Ayman, father Rafael, father George, father Paolo and father Sandro, the director of the FBH. In the end of the celebration, Jiries Shattara thanked to FBH and all the previous teachers and friars for all the support and everybody congratulated him for great success of the graduation on the national level. Wissam Zablah also thanked the FBH for all the years and grace he lived in our home, as well as all our boys that are currently in our home.

We want to thank our Lord that he sends all the people of good will in helping our mission here in Bethlehem and especially Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land and the Custody of the Holy Land.