BETHLEHEM, West Bank (RNS) — Entering the Nativity Store gift shop, located around the corner from the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square, the first thing many visitors notice are its oversized photos of Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis.

Soon the family-owned shop, which has been open for 98 years, will add a photo of Pope Leo XIV.

Like other Palestinian Catholics in the Holy Land, the store’s owner, Rony Tabash, hopes Pope Leo will center the Palestinian people in his prayers and deeds, much the way Pope Francis did. After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Francis maintained close contact with the Christians and Muslims who have taken refuge in the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza. He phoned them nearly every day, even while hospitalized during his final illness last month.

And although many Bethlehem residents were hoping their cardinal, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, would become the next pope, they are cheering on Pope Leo.

“It’s the first time we’re seeing an American pope,” Tabash said, “but where he comes from doesn’t matter. We all have the same Catholic faith. We are all under the umbrella of Jesus. This is the time to be united.”

Holy Land Catholics are praying Pope Leo will use his influence to help bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a lasting peace throughout the region. And as Bethlehem’s Christian population and tourism industry suffer amid the war, they also pray he will somehow help make the area more livable for Palestinians. 

In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on what it says are Hamas strongholds and has expanded ground fighting in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas or at least force the United States-defined terror group out of Gaza. After blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza for two months, a move to pressure Hamas to release the 58 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — that remain in captivity, Israel is now permitting aid to enter, due to pressure from President Trump. The aid ban triggered widespread food insecurity and concerns about starvation.

During his inaugural Mass on May 18 before 200,000 people, Pope Leo called for diplomatic efforts that will bring about a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and prayed for the people of Gaza “who are reduced to hunger.” He has already offered the Vatican as a venue to hold diplomatic negotiations.

Louis Michel, the Catholic owner of St. Patrick Store, another Bethlehem shop that sells Christian merchandise, from locally made olive-wood nativity scenes and gold crosses to votive candles and sanctuary lamps, said he hopes Leo will demand the Israeli government allow Christians in the West Bank and Gaza to visit Christian holy sites in Israel without needing a permit. Since the war began, the government has revoked most Palestinian work and visitor permits, citing security concerns.   

The lack of pilgrimages is an even bigger worry, he said. 

“Eighty percent of Bethlehem’s economy comes from tourism — and right now, it’s like a desert,” Michel said, noting that at least 80 hotels, 65 souvenir shops and 20 restaurants that serve tourists in the area have shuttered their doors because there are no customers. Only one or two olive-wood factories remain open, and they rely on exports to the U.S. and Europe.

The Christian population of Bethlehem and the West Bank has been dwindling over decades, and the living situation has been made worse by the ongoing war in Gaza and the inability to work in Israel. 

“In 1980, more than 35,000 Christians lived in the Bethlehem area. Today, only 11,000 are left,” Michel said. His three sons have emigrated. Two live in Italy, one in Spain.

“If the situation doesn’t improve here within a few months and we deplete our savings, my wife and I will move to Barcelona or northern Italy,” the shopkeeper said.

A Catholic Bethlehem resident who asked not to be identified said two of her four adult children have immigrated to the U.S., “and I hope the remaining two will leave as well. Then I will join them.”

Until then, struggling families like hers are finding work here and there and living on savings or money relatives send from abroad. If she could ask one thing of Pope Leo, she said, “it would be to help the people here live with honor and dignity. With enough money, we can feed our families, educate our children, even travel.” While the Catholic Church helps when it can, “the church itself needs help.”

Tabash, who opens his store every day only because doing so is important to his 81-year-old father’s wellbeing, said the popes elected at the Vatican “are our leaders, our fathers.”

“Pope Francis really gave us love and told us, ‘You are not alone, I know you are suffering,'” he said. “He gave us the strength to stay in Bethlehem.”

As for Pope Leo, he said, “I trust my church and the Holy Spirit.” 

Even so, Tabash worries that if the situation does not improve, there may be no Christians left in Bethlehem a century from now.

“We are in the place where Jesus was born, and it is imperative that every person in the world who loves Jesus to help the Christian community survive,” he said. “We are the living stones of the church.”

If all Christians leave, he said, “Bethlehem will be a museum.”