Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were canceled amid the Israel-Hamas war. Bethlehem is home to the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

The grotto is under Bethlehem’s large Church of the Nativity, which was built in the fourth century after Constantine’s mother, Helena, identified it as the right site for the miraculous moment.

The small procession of Franciscan friars, with the Custos of the Holy Land, arrives in Manger Square, in front of the Basilica of the Nativity, in Bethlehem on Saturday, Dec. 2, the day of the ...

Inside the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Since the war started on Oct. 7, pilgrim and tourist groups have cancelled visits and the basilica is always empty.

Father Issa Thaljieh, a 40-year-old Greek Orthodox parish priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, kneels at the spot where tradition says Jesus was born.

Topline The West Bank city of Bethlehem—identified in the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus—held muted Christmas celebrations on Monday amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Davis Creek Nazarene is hosting its annual Lights of Bethlehem event, offering a drive-thru live nativity scene, marking the 27th year the church has held the event.

The newborn Jesus is swaddled in a kaffiyeh amid rubble in a Nativity scene expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in the West Bank city of ...

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads the yearly Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem town in the Israel-occupied West Bank on Dec. 24, 2024.

Annie, Avery, Tim and Owen Weinthaler played the roles of a shepherd family at a Bethlehem Walk nativity pageant put on by St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Park Ridge.

The patriarchs and leaders of the Churches in Jerusalem have urged the faithful to focus on the spiritual meaning of the Nativity.