Society of St. Yves

The Society of St. Yves is a Catholic human rights organization working under the patronage of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem. It was founded in 1991 by the former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Michel Sabbah, to help "the poor and the oppressed" according to the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. St. Yves provides gratis legal assistance, counsel and advocacy to members of the community. Through National and International Lobby and Advocacy we are able to bring the situation of the poor and marginalized to the attention of communities around the world. Today St. Yves manages some 8000 cases per year in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The Society of St. Yves strives for a social order that values the dignity of all people in the Holy Land. This is to be reached by resisting and combating the wrong impacts of the occupation trough legal actions and to promote justice and fairness for everybody. The Society of St. Yves is the Catholic Center for Human Rights of the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land. It provides legal aid to the needy, oppressed and marginalized and tries to raise the awareness of human and civil rights in the society. The Society of St. Yves believes that every human being is created in the image of God and the dignity and rights of everybody are God given.