Palestinian Christians' Persecution: Nun Shares Stories – Arkansas Catholic

Catholic, Protestant and Muslim participants hear what life is like in the West Bank
On a Sunday afternoon, a Christian Palestinian family was stopped at an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) checkpoint while traveling back from a day of swimming in Jordan to their home in Beit Jala, northwest of Bethlehem.
“(The soldier), she says, ‘Wait, wait a second. Give me your crosses. Give me your icons — those are religious images that people have on their car — ‘and now give me a piece of tissue paper.’ She wraps them up and throws them in the garbage.” 
It’s one of several personal stories Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Russian Orthodox nun and outspoken Palestinian advocate, shared about the decades-long persecution and targeted mistreatment she’s seen first-hand of Palestinian Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land to a crowd of Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and other faiths at New Millennium Church in Little Rock Nov. 8. 
“Christians have to be aware that we’re losing our legacy in the Holy Land, both by the Christians not being able to live there, having it difficult for them to live there and also by the taking over of the holy places,” she said. 
Mother Agapia, born Anastasia Stephanopoulos to a Greek Orthodox family in New Jersey, is the sister of George Stephanopoulos, co-anchor of “Good Morning America.” She became a member of the Russian Orthodox Church and, in 1996, moved to the convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. She ran the convent’s Orthodox girls’ school in Bethany, spending decades living and working in harmony and mutual respect with Muslims in the West Bank, one of two Palestinian territories, the other being the Gaza Strip. 
A common theme throughout her two-hour discussion was IDF travel restrictions. The long-standing I.D. system restricts the movements of Palestinians, making it difficult to access holy sites.
“I was driving one day in August of 2001, and all of a sudden, there’s big cement cubes on the street, and we can’t use that road anymore to get where we are. Then, eventually, they built what became a wall right next to Lazarus’ tomb, barely a mile from the school. … It affects every Palestinian there. If you’re a Christian, if you live in Bethlehem, you can’t go to the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Christ,” Mother Agapia said.
According to estimates posted on the United States Department of State website, state.gov, there are roughly 50,000 Christian Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and almost 1,000 Christians in Gaza.
“In spite of the difficulties, there’s something about the family connectedness, the warmth, the Palestinian hospitality. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s something we should also recognize as people that we’re missing in this western world,” Mother Agapia said. “It’s sort of a timelessness. If you go to any family in Palestine, no matter what’s going on, the persecution or stuff (they’ll still say) ‘Please come have coffee, come in.’” 
Mother Agapia emphasized that as Christians dwindle in Palestine, there’s a threat of losing “living communities” of faith, where churches morph into museums for tourists. She explained that the Israeli military has promoted this idea of tourism rather than local worship, hoping that tourists use Israeli tour guides instead of Palestinian ones. 
“I never had a more close experience to God than when I’ve been in churches in Palestine,” she said. “… They may not be sophisticated in theology, but because they’re from the land of Christ, they feel it in their bones and in their soul.” 
Israel and Palestine have dominated news cycles since the Hamas-led militant attack Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the two-year war. The terrorist group abducted 251 people and killed about 1,200, according to an Oct. 17 Associated Press article. 
On Nov. 11, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 69,182 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza from Israel’s military response over the past two years. That includes three who died after the targeted July attack on the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza. Questions remain about peace following a United States-led negotiation of a ceasefire Oct. 10. 
While Mother Agapia called the Hamas attack on Jews “horrific,” the persecution of Palestinians was happening long before 2023. 
Pope Leo XIV has supported Palestinians and peace in the Holy Land. In September, as reported by Vatican News, he expressed “deepest sympathy to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who continue to live in fear and to survive in unacceptable conditions, forced — once again — from their lands.” 
Dr. Ali Khan, a Muslim doctor in Little Rock who received a Catholic education in Pakistan, moderated the discussion with Mother Agapia and told Arkansas Catholic her message on “shared humanity” struck him most.
“I think people view Palestine as factions and as different people, but clearly she’s speaking from a human experience. Not from a Muslim experience, not necessarily even from a Christian experience, but she shows the shared humanity of the people who are occupied and oppressed,” Khan said. 
Dr. George Simon, a parishioner of Christ the King Church in Little Rock and a founder of the Catholic peace and social justice group chapter Pax Christi Little Rock, said he was inspired by her message to continue praying and educating people, especially those who are misinformed.
“You have to bring yourself in love. That’s the mission. Jesus was trying to tell us that’s what we have to do. We have to find a way,” Simon said. “We can’t give up, we can’t just say, ‘OK, you’re crazy, I’m out of here.’ That was the most important part of her message. I’m not going to give up.” 
A YouTube video of Mother Agapia’s discussion was posted to the Pax Christi Little Rock Facebook page.  
Aprille Hanson Spivey has contributed to Arkansas Catholic as a freelancer and associate editor since 2010. She leads the Beacon of Hope grief ministry at St. Joseph Church in Conway.
Mary Corkins, parish manager at St. Leo the Great University Parish, donated her hair to a…
Several parishes in Arkansas are collaborating to combat food insecurity, which affects 587,000 residents in the…
Trinity Catholic School marked its 40th anniversary by unveiling a renovated campus and introducing a new…
The St. Bartholomew Parish in Little Rock dedicated its new 5,000-square-foot building Nov. 15, marking the…
Catholic churches and schools across Arkansas provide essential services to combat hunger, including food pantries, regular…
Professional. Reliable. True to Church teaching. Committed to our readers. From its founding on the Annunciation in 1911 to today, Arkansas Catholic serves the state with weekly news in print and digital media. Our mission was set by our founder, Bishop John B. Morris, who said the newspaper should be an “earnest champion in the cause of right, justice and truth and an ardent defender of the religion which we all love so well.”
Copyright 2025 Arkansas Catholic | Digital Edition | Archives 1911-2002 | Privacy & Terms | PO Box 7417, Little Rock AR 72207 | 501-664-0125

source