My Dear Friends, Magdala Family,

As summer draws to a close, we reach out from the Holy Land with a warm greeting and an invitation to begin this new season—whether it’s a new school year, a new job, new projects, or more—with a renewed spirit of Duc in Altum: moving forward with determination and full trust in God’s help.

Here in Magdala, we have experienced a truly unique summer. At the beginning, we were still feeling the impact of the reciprocal attacks between Iran and Israel—a very challenging time. The hotel was closed, and there were no visitors. Things looked bleak. However, around July 10, the situation began to improve, and we started to see more local tourism. While most visitors came for vacation, there was always room for deeper encounters—moments of learning, connection, and openness. Magdala is truly a crossroads of spiritual and religious paths, and we experience this reality every day.

We also endured an extremely hot summer, with temperatures reaching nearly 50°C (122°F)—something we hadn’t seen in ten years. Besides being a real challenge, this caused a significant amount of water to evaporate from the Sea of Galilee, which is once again nearing a historic low. For those who may not know, rain here falls mainly between Christmas and Easter, and outside of that, not a single drop! Last year’s rainfall was very scarce, so we can say we are in a drought. Thankfully, thanks to advanced drip irrigation, Israel is still able to maintain flourishing and prosperous agriculture.

As I write these lines in mid-August, pilgrims are slowly beginning to return. We pray that this trend continues and grows in the near future.

During these weeks of August and early September, we also commemorate the anniversary of our archaeological discoveries—especially the Magdala synagogue, officially announced on September 13, 2009. God truly gave us an extraordinary gift: an authentic Gospel setting we didn’t have before—a first-century synagogue, a place visited by Jesus, where He taught, healed, and participated in worship and the reading of the Torah. How could we not recall those days full of excitement and surprises? This is also the perfect moment to share some exciting news: we are planning to resume archaeological excavations, most likely in the summer of 2026. You can sign up as a volunteer—it’s an incredible experience!

God willing, we are also resuming work on the restaurant and the priests’ residence, projects that were abruptly interrupted on October 7, 2023, due to the war. We deeply appreciate anyone who can support these two projects. Let me also remind you of our “drip irrigation” campaign—figuratively speaking—since monthly donations, even small ones, help us plan our expenses and organize our work for the medium and long term. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to all who already support us and to those who wish to join us at this important moment.

Finally, I’d like to share that from August 27 to September 23, I will be visiting several cities in Mexico to give the talk “Touching the Mantle.” I hope to visit places I haven’t been to often. Stay tuned to our social media for updates on locations and schedules. I truly hope we can shake hands soon.

May God bless you all. With a fraternal embrace from Magdala.

Fr. Juan María Solana, L.C. and the Magdala Team

P.S. I hope that in our next newsletter, we will have some very encouraging news to share with you.