Our Lead Bishop for the Holy Land, Bishop Jim Curry, has appeared as a guest on the December 2025 episode of Middle East Analysis, a podcast series that examines the complex religious, political and socio-economic realities of the region covering the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf States.
Bishop Curry called for Catholics to look at Advent as a time to seek hope in the coming of Christ at Christmas as the light for change in a troubled world:
“Jesus could have been born in a palace. He could have stayed in heaven. He could have been born anywhere. But he was born into our mess: the mess we make of our lives, the mess we make of our world, the mess we make in our families. But he’s born into that mess so that there is always the hope of a possibility that things can be different and that we can be part of that difference. That’s the hope that sustains us.”
Bishop Curry also shared his impressions of Pope Leo’s recent visit to the Middle East, reflecting especially on the significance of the Pope’s presence in Lebanon, a place where Muslims and Christians have historically lived reasonably harmoniously:
“I was very struck by the joy of the welcome that he received, the sense of relief amongst the people. There seems to be a genuine appreciation that he was there amongst them as a sign of hope… Lebanon demonstrates a way in which different cultures, different religions, different people can live together and make us a society, and Pope Leo was calling people back to that reality or that vision or that hope.”
Pope Francis had originally planned to go to Nicaea to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Creed. Bishop Curry described Pope Leo’s decision to follow this plan and make the visit himself as a natural development which was consistent with what had gone before:
“The Holy Father, I think, was developing the inheritance of Pope Francis and deepening its expression in the Church.”
As the conversation turned towards Advent and Christmas, Bishop Curry reflected on the importance of ensuring that we always keep the Holy Land at the front of our minds:
“We always have to bring people back to the reality that Christianity came from the East. Jesus was born, a first century Palestinian Jew in Bethlehem. His family fled to Egypt.”
Reminding people of the origins of Christianity in the East is important also for those Christians who continue to live in this fractured region. Bishop Curry, recalling his own experiences, reminded listeners of the importance to visit not only the historical sites but also to encounter and listen to the people:
“One of the things I’ve learned in the recent years is to try and listen to the Christians who live the Christian life and experience in the Holy Land. There are many voices coming through, both disturbing and challenging, but there are seeds of hope.”
Encounters with the ‘living stones’ will be a feature of his next visit to the region as part of the Holy Land Coordination delegation that will take place in January 2026. These encounters, Bishop Curry emphasised, must be genuine. This also means being prepared to hear testimonies which might be uncomfortable or distressing. Considering how to respond to this discomfort, he echoed the words of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa: “If we lose sight of each other’s faces, we then lose sight of the face of God.”
