Association pro Terra Sancta is a non-profit organization that carries out projects to preserve the Holy Places, support local communities and bring aid in humanitarian emergencies. We are present in the Middle East, wherever the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land are. Participating to the work of the Association pro Terra Sancta means to love the Holy Land in places and people. It means living a lasting bond with the Holy Places and the ancient Christian communities, getting involved with all its religious, cultural and social aspects. Association pro Terra Sancta provides technical support to the Franciscans in the Holy Land in their principal sectors of activity, promoting and coordinating activities within the framework of development cooperation and international solidarity in all of the areas in the Middle East in which the Custody of the Holy Land is present: Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and Rhodes. Association pro Terra Sancta assists the Custody of the Holy Land in its tasks of: Supporting the Christian communities in the Middle East; Preserving and enhancing the Holy Places. The Custody of the Holy Land is the name by which today are known the Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor (founded by St. Francis in 1209) who have been present in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean since the earliest days of the Order, and who watch over the Holy Places in the name of all Christianity.