An urgent plea for Holy Land schools

Knights and dames of the Toronto Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ) will gather in Vaughan north of Toronto Sept. 11 for a special gala in support of the Holy Land Children’s Educational Endowment Fund. 

Known as “The Children of the Holy Land: An Evening of Hope and Solidarity,” the evening is set to mark an urgent plea, calling on the order and its friends to assist in saving the schools of the Holy Land in the Middle East while uplifting the educators and people who belong to them. 

While most are aware of the issues that have plagued the Holy Land in recent years, few are informed of the scale of the impact on local, Catholic education within the Latin Patriarchate. 

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The COVID-19 pandemic, growing inflation, unemployment and of course the ongoing war in Gaza have caused buildings and classrooms in the patriarchate’s network to deteriorate heavily, some to the point of being declared unsafe. Since the war, parents continue to struggle to pay tuition costs, with stretched budget resources exacerbating the issues. 

As the order points out, funds have reached a point of desperate need to ensure teachers, mostly Christian, can be paid, the schools remain operational for the 18,968 boys and girls and over 1,700 staff and for families to be assured of an opportunity for their children to receive a Christian education. 

“ The expression is that it takes a village to raise a child, and for most of us, that village is our family and community that surrounds us. With so many of the villages having been torn apart, families displaced and homes and schools destroyed by the war, our gala is to meet in solidarity to create hope for the children of the Holy Land, so that we become that village for them,” said Dame Rose Savage, gala chairperson. 

With a goal of restoring normalcy, the order is hoping to assist 45 schools in total. While estimates say $8 million is required to bring each back to modern standards, as well as a further estimated $4 million for immediate teacher salary needs, the EOHSJ is aiming to raise $1 million as part of its campaign. 

Donations are already being accepted and go directly to the Holy Land Children’s Educational Endowment Fund. Savage said strong early support has come from knights and dames of the order, Rogers at the platinum sponsor level, the Knights of Columbus and others, including friends of the order. 

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To Savage and Lieutenant Colin Saldanha, that early support has meant everything. 

“It has been  very nice to see from these generous people, and to see them giving from the true heart,” she said.

“Truly we are overwhelmed with the support that we’ve had from the Toronto community for a fund that will remain in perpetuity as a response to the generosity of the Catholics of the Archdiocese of Toronto,” Saldanha added. 

The two also called to mind the words of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who said, “ The awareness that children are most vulnerable and the most impacted by the war and lack of opportunity prompts us to remember the words of Christ, ‘So let the children come to me,’ and to act so that the youth may have the gift of the Catholic education.” 

“ That's really what this is all about. Everybody responding to our duty as dames and knights to what our Lord is directing us to. We are here to follow that call,” Savage said. 

“The Toronto Lieutenancy must step forward and answer that plea to the people and children of the Holy Land for a variety of reasons — most important of which is that it’s the land of the birth of Our Lord, and the Christian presence must be maintained,” Saldanha echoed. 

Savage hopes attendees come away with a better understanding of the order's support plans for the educational endowment fund, as well as with confirmation the initiative is not just a one-time effort. She said the endowment is designed for ongoing, permanent support of the patriarchate, with hope to expand beyond itself through a broader network known as “Friends of the Order,” as people of shared charitable spirit stay engaged year after year.

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“As Catholics, we’re called upon to do our best to support the Christian institutions of the Holy Land, and here’s yet another opportunity to deliver on that promise and that commitment which the Equestrian Order has made,” Saldanha said. 

See eohsj.com/the-children-of-the-holy-land-2026. 

A version of this article appeared in the September 06, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "An urgent plea for Holy Land schools"