St.James Vicariate

The Association of Saint James was founded in 1955 as a Catholic association dedicated to developing Hebrew-speaking Catholic communities in the State of Israel. Saint James was the head of the Jerusalem community of believers in Jesus at the time of the apostles. A pious Jew, St. James worked to establish a community made up of Jews and non-Jews, united in their common faith in Jesus as the Messiah (see the Book of Acts, chapter 15).

The Association of Saint James constitutes an autonomous Vicariate within the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Today, Hebrew speaking communities are active in the six major Israeli cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Beer Sheba, Tiberias and Nazareth. The Vicariate includes communities of Russian speaking faithful too. The priests and faithful of the Vicariate work closely with the Coordination of the Pastoral for Migrants in Israel, ensuring the pastoral and catechetical service of the large Roman Catholic migrant communities spread throughout the country.