The winds of war are once again blowing across the home of the Prince of Peace. Many years ago, a priest friend advised me if you put off going to the Holy Land until there is a peaceful period with no trouble, you will never go. Historians may document a period of peace in the world around the time of the birth of Christ, but since then, there has almost always been a war somewhere — often in the very region of the world Christ called home.

While the protagonists of the Jewish and Islamic sides of this conflict argue, the survival of the Christian presence in the cradle of Christianity is often ignored. Wars have consequences. Some estimate that half of the Christians in Iraq and Syria have fled the region since the Second Gulf War and the Syrian civil war.

There are about 180,000 Christians in Israel. Seventy percent are Arabs or Palestinians, the largest group living in Jesus's hometown of Nazareth.  As a small minority within a minority, Christians require peace and stability for their survival. This latest war will do little to enhance that.

The so-called "Status Quo" is the unwritten rule in Israel under which religious groups don't rock the boat at holy sites under the protection of different religious groups. You may visit, but not hold religious services without an agreement. Even the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which encompasses Calvary and the Tomb of Christ, is managed by a consortium. The key to the church is traditionally in the possession of a Muslim Arab family to avoid disputes among the Christians.