 An Eastern Orthodox Church was built in the village in 1858 , and a larger Latin ( Roman Catholic ) church dedicated to St. Joseph was built in 1859 , adjacent to the ruins of St. George 's Church . In the courtyard of St. George 's Church is a sarcophagus . St. George 's Church has continued to serve as a place of worship into the modern era and has been the site of archaeological excavation since the mid @-@ 19th century . Mass is still held at its altar on certain occasions . In 1882 the Palestine Exploration Fund 's Survey of Western Palestine described Jifna as an Important Christian village , with a Latin Church and a convent . Also in the 1880s , Jifna was frequently <unk> by Ottoman authorities . It also came into consistent armed conflict with another Christian village , Bir Zeit , which in one incident , resulted in the deaths of five men from that village . In retaliation , residents of Bir Zeit uprooted and burned 125 of Jifna 's olive groves . 
