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French archbishop on Taybeh: Prayer can open hearts to peace amid violence
Archbishop Vincent Dollmann of Cambrai recounts the attack he witnessed in the West Bank and calls for protection, solidarity and prayer for Christian families struggling to remain in the Holy Land.
ENTREVISTA | TIERRA SANTA
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
10/27/20269 min read
Taybeh, West Bank.- “We were picking olives with a Bedouin man and his son when, at around 1 p.m., we saw vehicles and masked men in the distance. The Belgian consulate’s security team told us: ‘We have to leave, quickly, quickly!’” Archbishop Vincent Dollmann of Cambrai, France, recalled the tense moments he experienced on October 17 in Taybeh, a Christian town in the West Bank, when Israeli settlers attacked a delegation of European diplomats, French local officials and Catholic Church representatives.
In an interview with Press Crux, the archbishop, who has led the French archdiocese since 2018, described how the assailants approached the visitors as they accompanied Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
“Some very agitated young men arrived with iron bars and sticks. The mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, Mr. Baudoux, was violently shoved. We were stunned. We got into the armored vehicle, and the young men began hitting the windows. One of them even cracked. It was violent,” he said.
The archbishop praised the intervention of the consular security teams, whose personnel are trained to respond to emergencies.
“Our group quickly felt safe. The security teams’ composure and professionalism reassured us,” he said. Yet the experience also helped him understand the daily vulnerability of people who have no such protection.
The attack was also covered by international news agencies. Reuters reported on October 17 that those affected included diplomatic representatives from Belgium, France and Poland, alongside French local officials and Church representatives. AFP also reported the account of Mayor Bernard Baudoux, who said he had been struck during the attack. The Belgian government condemned the violence and demanded protection for Palestinian civilians and diplomatic representatives.
Taybeh, a Christian town rooted in the Gospel
Taybeh is a small Palestinian town in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, approximately 30 kilometers north of Jerusalem and 12 kilometers from Ramallah. It has around 1,400 inhabitants and is home to three Christian communities: Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic and Latin Catholic.
The Custody of the Holy Land identifies Taybeh with ancient Ephraim. According to the Gospel of John, after the raising of Lazarus, Jesus withdrew with his disciples to this town near the wilderness, where he stayed before his final Passover (Jn 11:54). The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem also notes this biblical connection.
The town also preserves the memory of Saint Charles de Foucauld. According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the French saint visited the parish as a pilgrim and later returned to spend eight days in prayer and meditation. Years afterward, followers of his spirituality encouraged the preservation of the room where he had stayed. His memory forms part of the tradition of prayer and hospitality toward pilgrims that the community continues to uphold today.
“They are defenseless and hardly go out anymore”
Although the attack frightened the visitors, Archbishop Dollmann said that what affected him most happened afterward, when Father Bashar, Taybeh’s Latin parish priest, accompanied him in a car. The priest, whom he had come to know as cheerful and talkative, remained silent throughout the journey. “What struck me was his silence, when he normally spoke so readily and joyfully. His silence expressed profound sadness and bewilderment. Father Bashar realized that there were no limits to these people’s violence and that even an official delegation could no longer offer protection to the inhabitants,” the archbishop explained.
For Archbishop Dollmann, that silence reflected the vulnerability of families living without reliable protection. “They are defenseless and hardly go out anymore. There is no army or police force to defend them,” he said, adding that the violence continued after the delegation’s departure: “On the night of October 17, individuals entered a house and mistreated its occupants.”
The town’s difficulties form part of a broader context of violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967. Conditions have deteriorated further since the outbreak of the Gaza war, following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military offensive. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented settler violence against Palestinian communities, including injuries, property damage and restrictions on access to agricultural land. Reuters has also reported attacks during the olive harvest, an activity of considerable economic and cultural importance for Palestinian families.
For the archbishop, the loss of access to olive groves threatens both livelihoods and a bond with the land cultivated across generations. “There, the olive tree is a source of income for many generations. It is the characteristic tree of this land, to which they are deeply attached, and it represents all the love that previous generations poured into cultivating it. But today they can no longer access it,” he said.
Restrictions on movement also make it difficult for families to earn a living. Some residents find employment through initiatives associated with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, including the school, pilgrim hospitality and communications, while others travel daily to Ramallah and nearby towns. “They have to pass through checkpoints that can close arbitrarily and prevent them from reaching their workplaces,” Archbishop Dollmann explained.
The attacks on Taybeh’s Christians
The October 17 attack followed earlier violence affecting the town’s farmland and religious sites. In July 2025, Reuters reported on a fire near the cemetery and the ruins of the historic Church of Saint George. Representatives of several Churches subsequently visited Taybeh to express solidarity with its inhabitants. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III have publicly voiced concern for residents’ safety and the future of the Christian presence in the region.
These pressures weigh heavily on small communities, whose ability to remain depends on access to their land, employment and opportunities for their children. Archbishop Dollmann warned that insecurity is undermining family life and prompting some residents to consider emigration. His concern extends beyond individual attacks to the accumulated obstacles that prevent young people from building a stable future.
“From a human perspective, there is no future for them,” he said of young Palestinians growing up in Taybeh. “Despite all the educational initiatives, the future remains bleak, particularly when it comes to finding work and being able to start a family. Despite their attachment to this land, families leave for other countries every year.”
“They discovered countries where people can move freely”
Archbishop Dollmann visited Taybeh from October 12 to 19 to strengthen ties between the Palestinian Christian community and the Archdiocese of Cambrai. The relationship developed through Sister Nelly, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem originally from the French diocese, who has lived in the West Bank for years. She maintains links with L’Aulne et l’Olivier, an association established in Aulnoye-Aymeries to support Taybeh’s Catholic parish.
The visit followed a summer exchange in which young Palestinians traveled to France and met families in the diocese. Welcomed in Taybeh by Father Bashar, the archbishop participated in the formalization of twinning agreements between the two towns and their parishes, in the presence of consular representatives from France, Belgium and Poland.
Reflecting on the young Palestinians’ experience in Europe, Archbishop Dollmann described a discovery that highlighted the restrictions shaping their daily lives: “The young people who came to France discovered that there are countries, such as those in Europe, where people can move around without being stopped and questioned. They also discovered a society that did not question their word, or even whether their names were correct, and did not suspect them of lying.”
Despite these difficulties, the community remains committed to providing a well-rounded education at Taybeh’s Catholic school, which serves approximately 400 pupils. Academic achievement is encouraged alongside Palestinian culture, traditional dance, religious education and sports such as football and basketball. “Excellence in learning is encouraged. Palestinian culture and traditional dances are given renewed value, with a certain pride. Young people are also introduced to the richness of their respective religious traditions,” he explained.
Around two-thirds of the school’s pupils are Muslim, making the classroom a place of daily encounter between communities. “At this school, there is a real education in coexistence between Muslims and Christians,” the archbishop said, highlighting the role of education in helping children learn to live together.
A community that sustains its faith and hospitality
Despite the violence and uncertainty, Archbishop Dollmann encountered a Christian community determined to sustain its faith and pass on its traditions. “Christians nourish their faith through the beauty of the liturgy and faithfulness to prayer. But what stands out most is their sense of hospitality,” he said.
That hospitality took on particular meaning during his visit to the House of Parables, an old building beside a church in Taybeh that illustrates domestic life in biblical times. Its arrangement, with a stable area beneath the main living quarters, helped him consider how a manger could have formed part of a family home in Bethlehem. “The sister explained that the Holy Family might have benefited from the hospitality of Bethlehem’s inhabitants, emphasizing that the manger should be understood as being at the very heart of the home,” he recalled.
For the archbishop, the visit illuminated a tradition that continues to shape the community’s relationship with those who come to the Holy Land. “Taybeh wishes to remain faithful to this tradition of hospitality by welcoming many groups, although there are fewer now,” he said. Regional instability has sharply curtailed pilgrimages, affecting both these encounters and the livelihoods of families who depend on welcoming visitors.
The commitment to caring for others was also evident in his meeting with two Argentine religious sisters from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, who serve in a home for around twenty elderly residents. Their presence, he noted, reflects the quiet work of international religious communities that remain alongside the local population, offering care and companionship even in difficult circumstances.
“Being informed is every Christian’s first responsibility”
Archbishop Dollmann called for effective and impartial protection for civilian communities to prevent further attacks. “Above all, the agreements on the ground would need to be respected, and the structures responsible for security would need to be able to protect the population impartially,” he said. He also urged sustained international attention to communities affected by conflict, particularly those overshadowed by the priorities of major powers. Solidarity, he explained, begins with understanding the lives of those who suffer and ensuring that their struggles remain visible.
For Catholics in Mexico and Latin America, he pointed to religious communities whose daily presence in the Holy Land offers firsthand knowledge of local needs. “These congregations make reliable information about people’s lives available. Being informed is every Christian’s first responsibility,” he said. He also encouraged support for pastoral, educational and social projects through organizations such as Aid to the Church in Need, L’Œuvre d’Orient and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Alongside practical assistance, the archbishop emphasized prayer as a means of sustaining solidarity and opening hearts to reconciliation. “And let us not forget prayer. Through it, the Lord gives us light and strength to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality of the world,” he said. “Our prayer can also allow the Holy Spirit to transform the hearts of those consumed by violence and touch the hearts of those who pray with us to seek peace.”
Archbishop Vincent Dollmann of Cambrai, France, during his visit to Taybeh in the West Bank. Photo: courtesy of Archbishop Vincent Dollmann.
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