coming up, the diminishing christian presence in the land where christianity began. and the demands on clergy. how stress impacts everything from their health to their spiritual life. plus, for muslims, ramadan, the month-long period of fasting and prayer is about to begin. major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lily endowment, an indianapolis-based private family foundation dedicated to its founders' interest in religion, community development, and education. additional funding by mutual of

america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. and the corporation for public broadcasting. welcome. i'm tim o'brien, sitting in for bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. as washington scrambled this week to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling, faith-based groups continue to urge lawmakers not to cut any programs that help the poor. interfaith leaders held a series of prayer vigils on capitol hill. they said religious teachings support helping the neediest. >> when the prophets first spoke out, it wasn't just to condemn the individuals who are blind to the needs of the poor, but the rulers who had failed the poor as well. religious leaders across the spectrum this week condemned the attacks in norway that killed more than 70 people. the head of the world council of churches called it blasphemy for the attacker, anders behring breivik, to cite christianity as a justification for the violence. breivik, who referred to himself

as a "cultural christian," claimed he was retaliating against "multiculturalism" and the increase in muslim immigration to europe. muslim groups in europe and the u.s. asked for increased security at mosques. belgium has become the second country in europe, after france, to ban face-covering veils in public. women who violate the law will be fined nearly $200 or spend seven days in jail. opponents call the ban discriminatory. supporters say it is necessary for security reasons. aid groups continue to rush emergency relief to east africa, where tens of thousands of people are believed to have died from starvation. the united nations this week began airlifting supplies into somalia, the hardest hit by the food crisis. many humanitarian groups say they haven't been able to reach certain parts of the country where access is blocked by the terrorist organization, al shabab. meanwhile, refugees are still flooding relief camps in kenya

and ethiopia. the vatican this week recalled its ambassador to ireland. this follows the release last week of an irish government report accusing the vatican of encouraging bishops to ignore child-protection guidelines adopted by irish bishops in 1996. ireland's deputy prime minister has demanded that the vatican respond to the findings in the report. palestinian president mahmoud abbas this week urged palestinians to ratchet up peaceful protests against israel. he said the effort could increase pressure on the united nations, which is expected to consider approving palestinian statehood in september. meanwhile, the ongoing conflict continues to take a heavy toll on that region's tiny christian minority. kim lawton has a special report on the diminishing numbers of christians in the holy land and the complicated, and sometimes controversial, efforts to support them.

>> reporter: it's sunday morning in the west bank town of bethlehem. christians have gathered for worship at the ancient church of the nativity, which marks the traditional birthplace of jesus. local christians like john tawil say they feel a special tie to their faith. >> being a christian in bethlehem is something wonderful because it's the place where jesus was born. >> reporter: but the 2,000-year-old christian community here has been diminishing at an alarming rate. and some question whether christianity can ultimately survive in the land where it began. >> the places are important, but you need these places to come alive and you cannot do that without indigenous palestinian christians in the holy land. >> reporter: the overwhelming majority of christians here are arabs. they were among the hundreds of thousands displaced in 1948, when the state of israel was established, and in the wars that followed.

for decades now, palestinian christians have continued to emigrate at disproportionately high rates, and their birth rates are much lower than those of muslims. roughly 150,000 christians live in israel proper -- about 2% of the population. in the palestinian territories, it's estimated that christians make up just over 1% of the population. there are also small christian minorities in disputed east jerusalem. the circumstances for christians vary in each of those places, and like most things here, a lot of it is shaped by the ongoing conflict. >> the challenge, i think, to palestinian christians, in my view, and to christian communities in israel and the middle east, is really to stay put. >> reporter: bernard sabella is a sociologist in jerusalem who has studied the emigration patterns of his fellow christians, especially younger christians, in israel and the palestinian territories. >> the political situation and economic situation together make

it very hard for young people. even when they are earning good money and they have a secure job, relatively secure job, they feel that the prospects for the future are very dim. >> reporter: that's the case for john tawil and his friend mary abu-ghattas, who are students at the roman catholic-run bethlehem university. both are 20 years old and were born under israeli occupation. they say israel's strict security policies toward all palestinians make west bank life untenable. >> first of all, challenges in moving, which is a basic human right to be able to move from one point to another. challenges in israel controlling the water supply, israel controlling basically any supply that comes into palestine. >> reporter: mary's greek orthodox family has lived for centuries in the christian town of beit jala, just outside bethlehem. she's close to them, but also dreams of traveling to faraway places.

>> i don't care, like, if i have a lot of money. i just care to reay be able to see the world, so yes, that is definitely my dream, but it's not going to -- it's not that easy to make come true considering our situation in palestine. it's very tempting to leave. do we try? yes, of course we try. like basically, obviously no one wants to leave their country, but it is hard. it's a challenge. >> reporter: john is part of the tiny syriac orthodox community. several of his extended family members live in france and britain. he's a chemistry major who wants to study medicine, and he's planning to do so abroad. >> i would like to stay here, but i see that the peace -- the peace process that they are moving in will not achieve itself within the coming few years or within the coming 200 years. so why to suffer and struggle?

living under the occupation is not a normal life. it's a stressed life and we have to get out of this. >> reporter: bethlehem university was founded in 1973, and today about 30% of the students are christians, 70% muslim. university administrators are aware of the challenge they face. >> the difficulty with education is once you've educated someone they become mobile, and so they have opportunities elsewhere. our goal is to try and encourage people to stay in the holy land. that's why we're here to start with. >> reporter: leaders of the holy land's historic churches have been trying to encourage their flock to stay. for example, while the anglican church provides social services for all people, it's also been developing scholarship and employment programs specifically aimed at christians. >> we encourage them and we do whatever we can within our capacity to keep them here in the land. >> reporter: christians outside the region are also trying to help. the holy land christian

ecumenical foundation is a u.s.-based group with the mission of "preserving the christian presence in the holy land." hcef runs several investment and social service projects, such as this senior citizens' day care center in the west bank town of birzeit. here, they try to celebrate traditional palestinian culture and heritage. hcef has also renovated or built more than 300 homes for low-income palestinian christians. this family of six was living in one rundown room. now, they have a brand-new three-bedroom home. church leaders worry that without a living christian presence, the holy land could become like a museum or a theme park. the region's roman catholic leader is fouad twal, who has the ancient title of latin patriarch. he wants pilgrims to visit not only the holy sites, but also the local christians, whom he calls the holy land's "living stones." >> only with the living stones, with people, with community, it has a meaning of holy.

it is not a question of building and archeology. it is a question of life. >> reporter: top western anglican and roman catholic leaders have just launched a new campaign to help christians in the holy land. but that can be a complicated and sometimes controversial endeavor. many christians, especially in american and european evangelical communities, are strongly pro-israel. when the u.s. and other countries moved their embassies from jerusalem to tel aviv for political reasons, one group of christians founded their own institution to support israel. they called it the christian embassy. >> we were founded in 1980 as an expression of comfort and solidarity with the jewish people and their 3,000-year-old attachment to jerusalem, and we've been standing on the principle of a united jerusalem under israeli sovereignty for 30 years now. >> reporter: david parsons says

people in his community worry that some efforts to support christians in the holy land can be "anti-israel." >> there is this temptation when you have this sympathy for the plight of palestinian christians that, you know, in order to help them you have to start bashing israel. it is a divisive issue. >> reporter: archbishop of canterbury rowan williams contends that his campaign is actually very pro-israel. >> to put difficult questions to the government of israel is a sign that we take the government of israel seriously. it's quite the opposite of delegitimization or whatever. it's saying we expect the government of israel to have a response, we expect for them to be able to bear criticism and to engage with it. >> reporter: parsons asserts that christians are treated better by israel than by other middle eastern nations. and he raises another controversial question, the role rising islamic fundamentalism may play in the christian exodus.

>> a lot of people look at the conflict, they look at the plight of palestinian christians, they look at so many of them leaving, and ey want to understand why, and most of them know that the main culprit in this is islamic militancy, both towards jews and towards christians. >> reporter: palestinian christian leaders acknowledge there are some tensions with muslims, but say overall the two communities have lived together peacefully for centuries. >> our relations have been really normal relations, like neighbors. there are sensitivities in the sense that sometimes palestinian christians would like less of religion in the public sphere, yes. but that is not the cause for leaving. >> reporter: sabella says many christians here see themselves as bridge-builders for peace and democracy. >> if you lose the palestinian christians, then you lose, in a

sense, the promise of a multireligious and open and democratic and pluralistic society, and i'm saying that not simply to the palestinian territories, also to israel. >> i consider all the inhabitan -- jews, muslims, christians -- as my faithful, my people, my children, and i must take care of them. my dream is to see our children playing together in a normal life, a normal way in this holy, holy land. till now, this dream, my dream, is only a dream. >> reporter: and as peace remains elusive, many church leaders say their biggest challenge may be keeping their flock from despair. >> jerusalem for us christians is the city of hope because it is the city of the resurrection. and it is the city of hope. and hope is a very important concept in our lives. if we lose hope, we lose

everything. but we still have hope. >> reporter: the leaders lieve that is the ultimate message of their faith, which was formed in this land. i'm kim lawton in israel anthe west bank. it's been said that, if you want to be happy in your work, become a priest or minister, because research has shown that job satisfaction is highest among clergy. but, paradoxically, surveys have also found that there are some major negatives in the life of the clergy, including stress, and a growing number of programs now address those problems. deborah potter reports. >> let us stand and continue our morning worship. >> reporter: serving god and ministering to people is deeply fulfilling, pastors say. yet studies have found that protestant clergy also suffer from depression and obesity at higher rates than the population as a whole. >> researchers like to joke that what we know about clergy is

they're satisfied, stressed out, and fat. >> reporter: joe stewart-sicking is an episcopal priest who teaches pastoral counseling and studies why clergy are more stressed than most of us. >> what makes the clergy vocation and occupation really different is that you work for god ultimately. if that work environment isn't meaningful to you, you're doing a lot of things like, you know, doing budgets or checking spelling on a bulletin, or office management, that's going to really hit home, because you think your job should be about god. >> reporter: add to that a new source of stress for many pastors in mainline protestant denominations -- as church membership dwindles, they feel pressured to reverse the trend. >> and a lot of pastors think that church growth is really the measure of their success, you know, and a lot of people are having to learn to deal with shrinking numbers, shrinking budgets, even closing churches. >> lord, we thank you for your grace and your mercy today. >> reporter: lynda ferguson is

pastor of salem united methodist church in rural bostic, north carolina. >> in jesus' name we pray. amen. >> reporter: she's the church's only pastor. most protestant churches have just one, ministering to a congregation of about 300. >> used to be the churches were filled, and now today we have to play a role of going out and bringing people into the church or actually taking the church to people. >> reporter: in the past three years, ferguson has put 90,000 miles on her car, visiting the sick -- >> i ask, lord, that you would just fill her with your holy presence and that your healing power will just consume her body. >> he brought a lot of joy into this world. >> reporter: -- consoling the bereaved. >> i appreciate you letting me be part of your life. clergy are different in that we are called to go to many dark places. we enter into sacred places with people, places that often are

very difficult and, you know, we don't do that from a distance. jesus didn't sit off in a corner and say, "i feel your pain" from over here. jesus very much reached out and touched, and he felt intensely for people, and we do, too, and so when you do that on a day-after-day basis, it is a lot of stress. >> reporter: today's technology just adds to that stress. >> i couldn't do my job probably without my laptop and my blackberry, but i'm on call 24/7, 365 days a year. i receive probably an average of 30 to 35 phone calls a day, 60 to 70 e-mails a day, and just taking care ofhat takes a lot of time. >> reporter: feeling called to serve, not to be served, ferguson hid her stress from the congregation. she worked 60 to 70 hours a week for more than five years and took little time off.

and then one sunday night it hit her. >> i came into the parsonage, and i put my things on the kitchen table, and i sat down and i -- my body, i just felt like i couldn't move, and i just sat there, and i was emotionally and physically exhausted. >> reporter: for years, clergy stress was little bit like the weather. everybody talked about it, and nobody did anything. but now, more than 50 programs across the country are working to improve clergy health, from foundation-paid sabbaticals to peer groups and retreats sponsored by church pension plans. here in the mountains of north carolina, the episcopal church brings groups of clergy together for eight days to destress and recenter themselves. this program started a decade ago with one workshop. it's now held more than 20 times a year. >> the official theme for today

is "where am i going?" >> reporter: the sessions cover everything from finance to vocation, giving clergy who are often isolated in their work a chance to share their stories and learn from each other. >> i was left alone in a very large parish, and i was doing everything, everything, all the six or seven services during the weekend, running to all the hospital, home visitation. the doctor said, "you must be stressed out." i said, "you think?" >> reporter: for many, the session on work and mning was revealing. >> what this has helped me realize is that i've sort of been feeling starved in my primary position. >> i realized that at work i spend the bulk of my time doing the things i hate and not the things that i love to do. >> reporter: trying to do it all can take a toll on a pastor's spiritual life. >> i often carry the burden of being stressed from work because of such nasty e-mails and stuff, i bring it home, and i can't

even prepare myself to pray. >> for nicolas porter, the retreat was a reawakening. >> i love my job. do i love all of it? no. at any given moment, if you were to have a little camera in my office, no. but i love my job. healing lives, connecting people to eternity and eternal life and love. i mean, this is great stuff. this is great stuff. >> reporter: after nearly collapsing from exhaustion and overwork, lynda ferguson finally took time off for a msion trip to nicaragua and reset her priorities. she takes fridays off now. sometimes when her cell phone rings she doesn't answer, and she's lost weight in part by resisting the temptation to sample every dish at every church gathering. >> bill caught me this morning running a little bit. >> i saw you jogging. >> hey, she runs. she don't jog. >> just because i love the people, and i truly do, i cannot

be there for everything, and they understand that, and they know that, and it is part of our job to set those boundaries, but it is very, very difficult to do so. >> reporter: difficult, but essential for clergy to manage the stress that comes with the job and focus on the work they really feel called to do. >> there's a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves as clergy because of what we're doing, and we don't want to let god down. >> reporter: for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm deborah potter in bostic, north carolina. two prominent religious leaders passed away this week. theologian and author john stott died in london at the age of 90. he was considered one of the most influential evangelical thinkers of the past century. and the vatican's ambassador to the u.s., archbishop pietro sambi, passed away after complications from lung surgery. he was 73.

finally, on our calendar, ramadan begins this week with the sighting of the new moon. during the month-long observance, muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset and offer special prayers and gifts to the poor. we talked with abdul malik ahmad, a multimedia producer, musician, and martial arts teacher and with his wife rahima ullah, who shared with us their family's practices for ramadan. >> we follow the lunar calendar. and so every year ramadan moves up in the year. this year it's gonna be more than 12 hour no eating, no drinking, the whole day. and you're still supposed to do all the things that you'd normally do. so, yeah, it's a challenge definitely. but, i'm still looking forward to it. two of the things that people look forward to during ramadan would be the iftars, which is when we break our fasts at the end of the day at sunset. and the prayers, special ramadan prayers that come after our evening prayers.

you're supposed to start your fast when you hit puberty. so, for guys and girls, it's different ages. i try not only to fast in ramadan, but also regularly throughout the year. >> during ramadan, being angry and acting on your anger breaks your fast. so, it's -- it's very much an emotional discipline as well as a physical discipline. >> the discipline that we practice during ramadan is the same kind of discipline that we try to promote in the martial arts. restraining from anger. treating people properly. just taking care of yourself, spiritually and physically. ♪ ramadan is here ♪ ramadan is here >> in our songs, we try to give muslims pride about their faith.

and also we want to teach other people a little bit about islam. one of the things that we really want to promote in our song is the feeling of happiness. ramadan's here. get close to god. fast. but, also, be happy. it's a time of hardship, yes. because you're fasting from sun up to sundown. there is a lot of joy in it. we see families getting together for the iftar or break fast. >> it's very special to see that mosque just packed with people. it's such a warm, wonderful feeling to be around so many people who all have this goal of pleasing god. even if we think our relationship with god and the people around us are great, there's always a way to get better. ramadan is that really intense, focused way of doing that, of fasting and working on our own selves. and then working on our relationship to others, and ultimately our relationship to god. that's our program for now.

i'm tim o'brien. you can follow us on twitter and facebook, find us on youtube, and watch us anytime, anywhere on smartphones and iphones. there's also much more on our website, including more of kim lawton's interviews about christians in the holy land. you can comment on all of our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are also available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, me of the song "ramadan is here" by the group native deen. ♪ ♪ ramadan is here ♪ ramadan is here

♪ it is here ♪ ramadan is here ♪ it is time to fast ♪ it is time for ramadan ♪ get up, get up, get up ♪ come on, come on, move >>ñ major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lily endowment, an indianapolis-based private family foundation dedicated to its founders' interest in religion, community development, and education. additional funding by mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. and the corporation for public company. and the corporation for public broadcasting.

no. well, it's just past there. first house in the right after the cottage on the l don't panic. brazen it out. me? - no. - right. here goes. yippee!