Communities and Centers

Since the end of the 1990s, Israel has been importing large numbers of migrant workers. The Filipino community being the largest among the migrant communities, a Filipino Chaplaincy was established already in the 1990s; then an Indian Chaplaincy was established in 2010. The work of the Latin Patriarchate with the Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Israel started to be more structured and organized in 2011. It was in the wake of a visit to Jerusalem by Archbishop (subsequently Cardinal) Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People. In April 2011, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem formally established a Coordination for the Pastoral among Migrants (CPAM) to direct the Church’s efforts in serving, organizing, and catechizing the extensive population of Roman Catholic migrants in Israel, particularly those who are not taken care of by other Church bodies or religious orders and congregations.