About us

The Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, through its Technical Office, seek to continue one of the many activities which the Franciscan friars have laboriously and tenaciously carried out over the course of the past eight centuries: taking care of the buildings that protect and mark the places of Christian memory – sanctuaries and Churches – and building and preserving dwellings for Christian families who are keeping alive the Christian presence in the Holy Land, and in particular in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

The project “Jerusalem, Stones of memory” provides for the renovation of dwellings in the Holy City of Jerusalem, as part of a larger program launched by the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land aimed at helping the poorest Christian families in the Holy City. This project has had a positive and direct impact on the lives of many Christian families without sources of income and has contributed to safeguarding their presence in the Holy Land, and in particular in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

	Custody of the Holy Land is the name of the Franciscan Province by which today are known the Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor founded by St. Francis in 1209. The Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, who watch over the Holy Places by the desire and at the request of the Universal Church, have been present in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean since 1217.
	ATS pro Terra Sancta is the nonprofit Nongovernmental organization of the Custody of the Holy Land that promotes and coordinates social and cultural projects within the framework of development cooperation and international solidarity in the Middle East.
	The Custody Technical Office is the section within the Bursar’s Office of the Custody in charge of programmed maintenance and preservation of the buildings owned by the Custody. It is made up of a technical staff responsible for coordination, design and supervision of the works, and an operational staff for carrying out direct maintenance interventions.