The Church was born in the Holy Land at Pentecost. At first, the original Jewish community was undivided (Acts 8,1.4; 9,31). For the first four centuries, the community of Jerusalem did not experience any doctrinal division. The Bishop of Jerusalem was the recognized authority over all Christians, both locals and visitors.

Divisions
    In the V century, new interpretations about the identity of Christ appeared and clashed. The Ecumenical Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) condemned the views of Nestorius and Eutyche because they put into question the right understanding of Jesus as true God and true Man, one only person with two natures. The local Churches that did not accept this formulation were considered schismatic and organized themselves as separate from Rome. These are the Nestorian Church and the monophysite Churches (Syro-western; Armenian; Copt). The Church of Jerusalem remained faithful to the teaching of the Councils, but it was influenced by the presence of monks and pilgrims from monophysite Churches.

The Crusades
    Western Christianity warmed up to the idea of taking control of the Holy Land from the Islamic forces to help local Christians and open the way to pilgrims. The arrival of the Crusaders meant the establishing of a Catholic hierarchy in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The Latin Patriarchate was erected and lasted until 1291, when the Crusaders left Palestine. For the next six centuries, the Latin Patriarchate would be a titular see. The Patriarchate was reopened in Jerusalem in 1847.
    With the Crusades, the Catholic Church gained an increasing influence in the Holy Land. The Franciscans arrived in the XIII century and established themselves in and around sacred sites. In 1336 they established a house in Jerusalem and in 1342 Pope Clement VI gave them the Custody of the Holy Land. The Franciscans gave an important input to the local Church. They also contributed to the propagation in the West of two devotions originally from the Holy Land: the Way of the Cross, and the novena in preparation to Christmas.

Oriental Churches
    From the XIII century, within the Greek Orthodox and the older Oriental Churches, some bishops started looking towards Rome. This phenomenon brought to the formation of Catholic Oriental Churches. These Churches accepted the authority of the Pope as universal shepherd of the only Church of Christ, but kept their liturgical, spiritual and theological traditions.
    In the Middle East, five Catholic Oriental Churches were born: the Chaldean Church in 1552; the Greek Catholic Church in 1724; the Armenian Catholic Church in 1740; the Syrian Catholic Church in 1773; and the Coptic Catholic Church in 1824. At the same time, the Maronite Church – from Lebanon – started expanding in the region.

Modern situation
    In the XX century, Anglicans and Lutherans arrived in the Holy Land mainly to convert Jews. Once their plan failed, they turned to the Arab population, with little success. Many religious orders and institutes (Latin and Oriental) opened houses to serve the local communities. The same happened within the Orthodox Churches, which have known a time of renewal. A new phenomenon in Israel is the growth of a local community of Christian coming from Judaism and of Hebrew expression.
    Through the centuries, all the Churches have tried to acquire control over the holy sites. This search for supremacy caused much division in the past. The situation was put to rest with a decree of the Turk Sultan in 1757. The document recognizes the status quo and freezes the situation to what it was at the time of publication.
    Today, the Holy Land has a global population of about eleven million people. The inhabitants of Israel are 7.250.000, of whom 1.500.000 of Arab descent. The Palestinian Territories have a combined population of 3.850.000 people. The Christians are about 200.000, 135.000 in Israel and 65.000 in the Palestinian Territories. These numbers do not keep in account the number of Christians coming from Eastern Europe whose status is kept secret or not recognized officially. A learned guess-estimate puts their number to 300.000 people. Anglicans and various Protestant Churches have a small following of about 7.000 people.
    Christians in the Holy Land are about 2% of the population. At the beginning of the XIX century they used to be around 10% of the population. Many Christians have left the region because of the political uncertainty and the discrimination to which they were subjected. The majority of Christians live in Galilee and around Jerusalem. Taybeh is the only village entirely inhabited by Christians. In Jordan, the villages of Semakìeh, Fuhèis e Shàtana are also entirely inhabited by Christians.

Chronological Table
30 First Christian community in Jerusalem.
36-37 Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, dispersion of the first community. In Antioch, Syria, the disciples of Jesus are called Christians for the first time. Conversion of Saint Paul.
40-42 Martyrdom of James the Great, brother of John.
49 James the Lesser heads the community in Jerusalem.
70 destruction of the Temple.
313 The Emperor Constantine declares the Christian faith legal.
325 Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Arius is condemned.
330-634 Byzantium controls Palestine.
381 Ecumenical Council of Constantinople.
431 Council of Ephesus, Nestorius is condemned.
451 Council of Chalcedon, Eutyche is condemned.
614 Persian invasion of Palestine.
628 Byzantium re-conquers Palestine.
636 – 1009 Arab Islamic domination of Palestine.
1054 Schism between Byzantium and Rome.
1099 – 1291 The Crusaders control Palestine.
1187 Saladin wins at Hattin, in Galilee.
1217 Saint Francis of Assisi opens the province of Holy Land.
1260 Saint Bonaventure reorganizes the Province of Holy Land.
1291 – 1517 Mamluk domination of Palestine.
1517-1917 Ottoman rule of Palestine.
1757 Imperial decree regulating the relationship between Churches in five sacred places: the Nativity in Bethlehem; the Saint Sepulchre, the Deir El-Sultan, the chapel of Ascension and the tomb of Mary in Jerusalem.
1831-1840 France obtains protection for the Catholics from the Turkish Sultan. The same is achieved by Russia for the Orthodox, Great Britain for the Anglicans, and Prussia for the Lutherans.
1841 Anglicans and Lutherans arrive in Palestine.
1847 The Latin Patriarchate reopens in Jerusalem.
1882 First Jewish colonies in Palestine.
1917 Great Britain occupies Palestine.
1947 The UN approves the splitting of Palestine to create Jewish and Arabic states.
1948 Proclamation of Israel and first Arab-Israeli war.
1956 Second Arab-Israeli war.
1964 Paolo VI visits the Holy Land.
1967 Third Arab-Israeli war.
1973 Fourth Arab-Israeli war.
1979 Peace between Israel and Egypt.
1987 First intifada in the occupied Territories.
1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians.
1994 The Holy See opens diplomatic relations with Israel.
2000 Base Agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Holy See. 
2000 John Paul II visits the Holy Land. Second intifada.