Greetings from the courageous, highly skilled medical staff associated with the Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem, where expectant mothers deliver their infants just 1,500 steps from the Manger of Jesus Christ. Bethlehem is the heart of Christmas. Holy Family Hospital is the heartbeat of Bethlehem.
An elite teaching hospital with a preference for the poor, Holy Family Hospital coordinates an international medical staff to tenderly nurture infants as small as one pound to full health and care for their mothers. It does so without regard to religious creed or financial need (all services are subsidized by at least 50%.) Earlier this year the Hospital celebrated its 100,000th delivery of an infant. The Hospital’s physicians, nurses and aids are making deep personal sacrifices to continue serving during the war.
Holy Family Hospital is a touchstone in Bethlehem and a place of hope. It operates a remarkable Level III Neonatal ICU, the country’s only gestational diabetes clinic, and the country’s only menopause clinic. For remote villages, refugee encampments, and Bedouin communities in the desert, it runs a mobile clinic with 3 specially trained staff members and one well-equipped van. As the largest employer in Bethlehem, the Hospital provides hope through healthcare and employment; it has trained thousands of Christian, Muslim and Jewish doctors, midwives and nurses to provide care throughout the region.
What makes Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem so special to us? Before the turn of the millennium, Pope John Paul II entrusted stewardship the Hospital to the Order of Malta. The Order is a lay religious order of the Church established close to 1,000 years ago, with a charism of service to the sick and the poor and witness to the Catholic faith.
In this time of war, pregnant women are suffering from anxiety over soaring inflation and deepening poverty, with 90% unemployment given the absence of pilgrimages and tourism; increases in military checkpoints; impossibility of nighttime transportation; and terrifying sounds and repercussions of war on the ground nearby and across the skies. Wartime conditions are triggering higher rates of premature and complicated deliveries. Families are choosing between groceries or electricity and medical care. However, everyone knows Holy Family Hospital will warmly welcome all.
Just as Mary and Joseph found shelter in the Manger, the Hospital can, with your prayers and support, continue to provide refuge and care to mothers delivering their infants in Bethlehem and among remote, isolated communities in the Holy Land.
During this time of unrest, Bethlehem’s Christmas is going back to its origins. No parades or festive lights—just a winter’s night, a single start, and a newborns cry, much like the first Christmas. In these somber times, the work of Holy Family Hospital is more vital than ever. Please join us in sustaining hope and health in the Holy Land.
Donations may be made during the Second Collection at all Masses this weekend:
Please make checks payable to your parish (“St. John Parish” or “St. Paul Parish” – be sure to note “Holy Family Hospital” in the memo.) Checks may also be mailed to the Collaborative Business Office (39 Washington St. Wellesley, MA 02481) or dropped at either parish office during business hours.
Donate online at any time through your parish’s online giving program:
Donate to Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem via St. John Online Giving
Donate to Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem via St. Paul Online Giving