Hebrew Catholics (in modern Israeli Ivrím Katolím) are a new religious movement of Messianic Jews who converted to Catholicism and Catholics of non-Jewish origin who choose to keep Mosaic traditions in light of Catholic doctrine. The phrase was coined by Elias Friedman (1987) who was himself a converted Jew. In the Holy Land, they are gathered in the Saint James Vicariate For Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel Beliefs Besides the other religious segments in Israel from most of the Eastern Orthodox Christian groups of Hebrew Catholics, these Messianic Jews subscribe to the theological doctrines and Catholic dogma of the Roman Catholic faith and are in full communion with the Pope. Many of them are culturally closely affiliated with Eastern Catholicism and Greek Orthodox Christianity. Their main point of differentiation as Hebrew Catholics lies not in the dogmatic beliefs of the Church they belong to being different but in rather their own personal liturgical practices. For example, they may celebrate Hanukkah, and their liturgical calendar might differ from the liturgical calendar used by Latin Catholics in their retention of certain Jewish holidays. Hebrew Catholics as cultural Jews may religiously celebrate Passover, Rosh Hashana, Shavuot, etc. and even wear traditional ritual wear like kippot, tallitot, tefillin, use mezuzot and keep many mitsvot (commandments) in the Torah as a sign of their heritage, like Orthodox Jews do. Where these Jewish holidays and practices do not conflict with Catholic doctrine, they are kept for ethnic reasons, much as Irish Americans might celebrate Saint Patrick's Day as a major feast day regardless of the diocese they reside in, out of a sense of Hibernophilia as Irish Catholics. Saint Paul the Apostle is mentioned in passing in The Acts of the Apostles to have observed the Jewish religious holidays and said it is good as Christians to keep the Mosaic Law as one wishes in the faith (; ; ; and in ). History The main associations of the movement are the Association of Hebrew Catholics (AHC), Remnant Of Israel (ROI) which was founded in 1976 by Father Arthur Klyber, and Miriam Bat Tzion. The AHC and the ROI are English-speaking organizations, and Miriam Bat Tzion is a French-speaking one. There is also a group of Spanish-speaking Hebrew Catholics in Venezuela as well as other places. According to David Moss, the current president of the AHC, it was estimated to have around 10,000 members in 2000.