The Israeli government has refused to renew the visa of a Catholic priest in the West Bank who was responsible for youth ministry among the region’s Christian community.

This was reported by The Pillar.

According to sources close to the situation, Father Luis Salman was questioned by Israeli authorities at the end of April, and shortly afterwards church leaders informed him that he needed to leave the country for his own safety. Salman was then officially notified that his visa would not be renewed and that he had to leave the country by Monday, 11 May.

No official reason for the decision was given.

Hundreds of people gathered at his parish in Beit Sahur, near Bethlehem, for a farewell Mass on Sunday before the priest departed for his native Jordan.

Salman is known as a highly devoted and energetic pastor, local Catholics told The Pillar.

However, he was also an outspoken critic of the actions of Israeli forces in the West Bank and of the difficulties Palestinian Christians faced in their daily lives as a result.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which has jurisdiction over Latin Catholics in the Holy Land, has made no official comment on the situation.

A source in Jerusalem told The Pillar that the patriarchate was refraining from any public comment while preparing for a prolonged legal battle over the decision.

The source said this was the first time Israel had intervened so directly in the patriarchate’s personnel decisions.