Israel pumps up religious tourism For the first time since 1967, Christians celebrated Mass at a war-damaged church in the West Bank, near one of the presumed sites of Jesus baptism in the Jordan River
Several people attended a Mass on Sunday, January 10, on the Jordan River in the West Bank, the place presumed to be the place of Jesus baptism. (Photo by NADIM ASFOUR/CTS)
With a fierce wind ruffling their brown habits, some 30 Franciscan friars gathered for a historic Mass last Sunday on the West Bank of the Jordan River at a strange little church that emerges from the beige sands like a small stone vessel.