From Jerusalem: A letter to pilgrims ...

I saw Jerusalem for the first time on the evening of 14th January 2025 when the taxi from the airport dropped me outside the Lion's Gate in the eastern wall.

I entered the city directly onto the Via Dolorosa at the site of the Roman Antonia Fortress - the place where Christ was scourged before His final journey through Jerusalem to Golgotha.

From the Lion's Gate I walked the short distance to my accommodation at the Ecce Homo Pilgrim House.

Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion in 1856, and since 2006 co-operated with the Chemin Neuf community, it combines religious hospitality with a spiritual atmosphere.

The guest house offers simple, clean rooms (single, twin, triple and quadruple), all with en-suite bathrooms and basic amenities.  Guests can choose bed & breakfast or half-board arrangements and the rooms start from £56 per night.

From its terraces, visitors enjoy panoramic views over the Old City, including the Mount of Olives and surrounding hills.

Beneath the convent lies the Lithostrotos (Roman paving) believed to correspond with the site of Pilate’s judgment. The place referred to as the Pavement or gabbatha in the Gospel. This area also contains a modest basilica accessible for prayer and reflection.

The Ecce Homo Guest House is prized by pilgrims and travellers for its location—within walking distance of the Western Wall, Temple Mount, and Holy Sepulchre—and its quietly spiritual environment amid the bustle of the city.

Two days ago, I received the following message from the Chemin Neuf Community who run the house alongside the Sisters of Sion. It illustrates exactly why we developed Pilgrims of Hope for the Holy Land and why we want to encourage others to form similar movements encouraging pilgrimage and providing a platform for the Palestinian voice for justice, peace and non-violence. (The emphasis is my own)

Jerusalem,

October 10, 2025.

Dear friend of the Ecce Homo Pilgrim House in Jerusalem,

Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of welcoming you to our Ecce Homo house in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. For many pilgrims until today, visiting the Holy Land represents an important and unique experience in their human and spiritual journey. We hope that this has been the case also for you and that your stay at the Ecce Homo Convent has been helpful for a good pilgrimage.

The convent was founded by the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion in 1856, and since 2006, the Chemin Neuf Community has joined forces with the Sisters of Sion to carry out the mission of a Christian presence and the accommodation of pilgrims in this place. With gratitude towards the Providence, we continue to live out this mission in the Holy City today and hope to keep doing so for a long time to come.

But trust in the Providence does not prevent difficulties and uncertainties about the future. Like the rest of the population, we are suffering from the war that has been going on for two years, from the climate of tension and insecurity, and also from the decrease in the number of pilgrims, especially since the economic balance of the house had already been affected by the covid years. In 2024, the occupancy was only 7% of what it was on average until 2019. Our economic situation is becoming untenable.

That is why we reach out to you today, as we dare to believe that you will be willing to support the mission carried out in Jerusalem by our two communities and all that it represents. First of all, it is about keeping a faithful Church presence in order to accommodate pilgrims from abroad, but also to encourage Christians in the Holy Land and more generally in the Middle East to stay, at a time when many are tempted to leave.

The members of our communities are integrated into the local ecclesial fabric, in a context of great diversity of churches, as well as into a network of relationships with all those – Jews, Muslims, Christians – who are committed to mutual esteem, reconciliation, and peace.

On a practical level, the accommodation of pilgrims and the maintenance of the buildings rely today on 14 employees from the local population of East Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories. Great efforts have been made to keep them in the staff, knowing that they and their families would face great difficulties if they were to lose their jobs for economic reasons.

Would you like to help us? First, through prayer for peace in the Holy Land: “May there be peace in Jerusalem… For the sake of my brothers and companions, I will say, ‘Peace be upon you!’” (Ps 121).

You can also encourage friends and relatives to come, because pilgrimages are still possible, and our house, like others, remains open. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) stressed this point on several occasions recently, as did Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline (Archbishop of Marseille) who came himself to the Holy Land last August as a “pilgrim of hope”.

We also need financial assistance.

If every pilgrim who has stayed at Ecce Homo over the past three years were to donate $75 (which is the price of one extra night in our guesthouse), we could raise the $280,000 needed to get through this crisis.

Every donation, large or small, counts towards helping us continue our mission. Beyond the amount raised, your donations are a valuable show of support for our mission.

Thank you in advance for your solidarity!

We look forward to seeing you again soon in Jerusalem! Be assured of our prayers,

Fr. Damien Artiges

On behalf of the entire team at the Ecce Homo guesthouse

17/1/25 Adhan Maghrib on the Via Dolorosa, outside the Ecce Homo Guest House - this street would ordinarily be filled with people at this time on a Friday evening