The exit from the Grotto of the Nativity is by a second set of stairs leading into the north transept. A doorway in the north aisle leads into the neighboring church of St Catherine.
The church is first recorded in the 15th century and may incorporate the chapter house of the 12th-century Crusader monastery that stood on the site. Traces of a 5th-century monastery associated with St. Jerome also exist here. The Church was enlarged in 1881 with funds from the Emperor of Austria.
Today St Catherine's church is the Parish church of the Roman Catholic (Latin) community in Bethlehem. Every year, on Christmas Eve, the Midnight Mass held in the church of St. Catherine, is broadcasted worldwide.
The exit from the Grotto of the Nativity is by a second set of stairs leading into the north transept. A doorway in the north aisle leads into the neighboring church of St Catherine.