Cardinal Kasper in Jerusalem for talks , CWNews.com, Jerusalem, May. 24, 2004

Jerusalem, May. 24 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news) has arrived in Jerusalem for four days of talks with political and religious leaders. Cardinal Kasper is the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and head of a Vatican commission for relations with Jews.

JAt the top of the agenda for Cardinal Kasper's talks with Israeli government officials will be the state's refusal to renew visas for Catholic missionaries in the Holy Land. He will also speak about the steady decline in the number of Christians living in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

JBefore his departure from Rome, Cardinal Kasper said that relations between Christians and Jews in Israel were friendly and productive. The problems that he hopes to resolve, he said, involve political rather than religious conflicts. He mentioned the visa problem, as well as difficulties regarding ownership of, and access to, Christian shrines.

JCardinal Kasper said that he would also speak with the Orthodox and Armenian patriarchs in Jerusalem during his stay there. He explained that "in this difficult stituation, it is necessary for the churches to work together." He also said that he would meet with the local Catholic community, hoping to bring them "encouragement and hope."

Cardinal Kasper visits Jerusalem, AsiaNews.it, 24 May, 2004, Vatican City

The cardinal is scheduled to discuss the issue of visas for religious and the emigration of Christians from the Holy Land.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Meetings with political and religious leaders, from Israeli president Moshe Katzav to the Jewish community's chief rabbis and heads of Christian Churches, are all scheduled to take place on Cardinal Walter Kasper’s trip to Jerusalem.

Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the Commission for Relations with Jews, will begin his trip to Jerusalem in the Holy Land, today and will conclude his stay this May 28.

The Vatican prelate will take up discussion on various delicate matters such as the issue of entry visas for the Church’s religious personnel and the status of its property and institutions in the Holy Land.

The cardinal will also speak with political and religious authorities about the growing exodus of Catholic communities out of the region in the face of great difficulties.

Before departing for the Holy Land, Cardinal Kasper said during an interview on Vatican Radio that his visit must first of all encourage inter-religious relations: “We have a good commission made up of a mix of Jews and Catholics in Israeli,” he said.

Kasper added later in the interview, “There are political problems concerning visas and Christian properties (there)."

Regarding the emigration problem he said,"Young Christians still do not have much hope, and this leads to a major exodus from the region. This has caused great harm (to the community), since the Christian Church has had a strong presence for centuries in the Holy Land. If we go (there) we don’t want to be considered mere lifeless rocks, but living ones. All this must be faced and discussed.”

The cardinal will also meet with Church leaders, particularly with the patriarch of the Orthodox Church and the ecumenical patriarch “since it is necessary that (all the Christian) Churches work together in these difficult times for the peace and common good not just of the Jewish people but of the Palestinian population as well.”

“They are suffering greatly and we stand united behind them,” Kasper said.

The cardinal ended by promising, “Certainly, I will meet also with members of the Catholic community who find themselves in a difficult situation (too) and are in need of much encouragement and words of hope.”

Cardinal Kasper visits Jerusalem , CathNews.com, VATICAN CITY, MAY 25, 2004

The Vatican's Cardinal Walter Kasper is in Jerusalem to discuss the increasingly pressing issues of visas for religious and the emigration of Christians from the Holy Land.

He has secured meetings with political and religious leaders, from Israeli president Moshe Katzav to the Jewish community's chief rabbis and heads of Christian Churches.

Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the Commission for Relations with Jews, began his four day visit yesterday.

The agenda includes a number of sensitive matters including the issue of entry visas for the Church’s religious personnel and the status of its property and institutions in the Holy Land.

The cardinal will also speak with political and religious authorities about the growing exodus of Catholic communities out of the region in the face of great difficulties.

Before departing for the Holy Land, Cardinal Kasper said during an interview on Vatican Radio that his visit must first of all encourage inter-religious relations: “We have a good commission made up of a mix of Jews and Catholics in Israeli,” he said.

He added later in the interview, “There are political problems concerning visas and Christian properties (there)."

With regard to the problem of emigration, he said: "Young Christians still do not have much hope, and this leads to a major exodus from the region."

SOURCE Cardinal Kasper visits Jerusalem (AsiaNews.it 24/5/04)

LINKS Cardinal Kasper travels to Jerusalem (Vatican Information Service 24/5/04)

CARDINAL KASPER IN JERUSALEM TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS OF CATHOLICS, To Broach the Topic of Visas for Religious, Zenit.org, VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2004

JERUSALEM, MAY 24, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican official arrived here to promote relations and resolve problems between Christians and Jews in the Holy Land.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, plans to meet with Catholic communities and representatives of Judaism and the Israeli government during his visit.

The cardinal will ask about the Israeli authorities' non-issuance of visas to Catholic religious, Vatican Radio reported.

"There are political problems, which affect visas and Christian properties," he said before leaving Rome today for Jerusalem.

"Christian young people do not yet have great hope, as for many centuries a great community of Christians has been present in the Holy Land and, if we go to the Holy Land, we do not want to be considered only as dead stones but as living stones," the cardinal said. "This must all be addressed and discussed."

Cardinal Kasper said that he will meet with the heads of the other Churches and Christian confessions, in particular with the Greek-Orthodox patriarch and with the Armenian patriarch.

"In this difficult situation it is necessary that the Churches collaborate for peace and the good of the Jewish people, as well as the Palestinian people," he said. "They suffer a lot and we are in solidarity with them."

"I will also meet, of course, with the Catholic community, which finds itself in a difficult situation and needs encouragement and a message of hope," the Vatican official said.

During his stay in Jerusalem, he will meet with the Latin-rite patriarch of Jerusalem, Catholic bishops, the Custodian of the Holy Land, and superiors and members of religious institutes and congregations.

The Ecumenical Institute of Advanced Theological Studies, of Tantur, invited the cardinal to participate in a colloquium, organized by that institution with the University of Notre Dame. Cardinal Kasper will deliver a talk entitled "Forgiveness and Purification of the Memory." The cardinal's visit ends Friday.

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Palestinian Christian who seeks justice for all in the Holy Land Wel-com - Welcom - Wellington and Palmerston North Catholic News, 7 May 2004

Cedar Duaybis’ life is a mirror of Palestinian Christian history. She has played a significant part in the formation of Palestinian Liberation Theology. Fr Alan Roberts met her when she lectured at Israel’s Tantur Ecumenical Institute last year. Here he tells the story of her life.

When Cedar Duaybis was born in Haifa in 1935, the country was then Palestine. Christians were just 10% of the population, but because the country was under the British Mandate they were a significant influence. Their education was better because they lived in the cities. In Haifa the best school was an English girls’ school along with St Luke’s for boys. Cedar says it was a like having parts of England in the middle of Haifa.

She received a good education but the disadvantage was she lost her natural culture. For Cedar, Arabic was a second language. She studied English literature, and sang English hymns but she was not taught Arab history.

Cedar went to Church where she says,“I learned the Bible literally, but never connected it with everyday life.” Her home was Church of England and she went to the Arab Church of St John’s built to seat 1,000 at a time when the Anglican population was 1,200.

After 1948 however, when the United Nations declared her land a Jewish state, most of her people left. Her family was one of the few to remain. Her father, who worked for the British often talked about the end of the Mandate, because he knew the British wanted to get out of Palestine and allow the Jews and Arabs to take over.

In 1936-39 came the Big Arab Revolt. Because of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, many Jews came to Palestine illegally. The British gave them a home in Palestine and these new immigrants started buying land and pushing Palestinians out.

Cedar’s Jewish neighbours called themselves Palestinians. They spoke Arabic and both the Jews and Christians shared feasts with each other. Then came a six-month strike as a protest against the British Mandate, but all the time Cedar never feared losing her home.

She lived in Mountain Road in Haifa. In 1948 there was a massacre in one of the suburbs of outer Jerusalem. It was intended to cause the exodus of Palestinians. “The Jews are coming, we have to flee,” was the cry of the citizens.

Cedar was sent to Nazareth with her brother when the Jews started rolling barrels of dynamite down her street. Her mother and baby sister were already there and her father decided it was time for his two older children to join them.

She remembers going to school for the last time. The soldiers took her bag to search for bombs. Her father stayed behind because of his job and he joined them when the Mandate ended on 14 May 1949.

Haifa was taken over by the Jews because they were better armed. The British army evacuated the Arabs living in Haifa to Lebanon, but the Christians were directed to Nazareth. At that time Nazareth was full of refugees and the Church was in a state of shock. On 15 May, David Ben Guerion declared, “Israel is a Jewish State”. Cedar says, “We had no idea what that meant.”

On 17 July, Nazareth surrendered. Prior to this, the office of Mayor had been shared between Christians and Muslim. The Israeli army confronted the Mayor of Nazareth, who called the heads of the Churches to decide their response. They were without significant weapons so, wrapping a sheet around a broomstick, they surrendered.

A curfew was put in place and now the Palestinians were living in Israel. They had nothing and relied on others for accommodation, food and clothing. Those with arms were called to hand them in. It was a nightmare that has continued to this day.

Galilee was divided into 52 areas. Permits were given to visit one another and were given only for very good reason. A one man Parliament ruled their lives.

Her father longed to see what had happened to their house in Haifa, so he got his children to apply for a permit. It came 10 years later by way of a special dispensation to celebrate the takeover. The Arabs were allowed to go where they wanted but had to return to their homes before nightfall.

On arriving at their former home in Haifa, they found a Jewish refugee family living in every room. They felt sorry for them.

When Cedar’s father fell into debt he was offered his old job back. He had been in charge of income tax and now worked for the Jewish authorities. So began a whole new chapter in their lives.

How do you explain all this from a theological point of view? Cedar’s father and mother would argue about it. The Bible looked like their disaster. The Palestinians were the bad people. They were the indigenous people of the land but the West was saying, “God’s people are back in their land”.

All thought that the problems were temporary and that in time, peace would come. But a third generation is still waiting for this to happen. Cedar’s mother had learned that this was land for God’s people, therefore what was happening was God’s will.

Her father on the other hand could not accept it. He said, “No, this is unjust. God is a God of justice” and her mother said “Hush!” Cedar inherited her father’s thinking. She continued to go to church but the Old Testament or Psalms were too much. When Psalm 18 was read in her church, she almost walked out.

Her father stopped going to church and never returned. His belief that he was a Palestinian Christian showed that the Church was not ready for the questions the people wanted to have answered. Who does God belong to? Does God take one people and put them above the other?

After what had happened the Bible became confusing. Westerners are brought up to love Israel. Muslims see Palestinian Christians as supporters of the Old Testament, therefore on the side of Israel.

Then along came Palestinian Liberation Theology and Nain Ateek. He knew that as a minister he had to relate the Bible as a Palestinian Christian, so that he could read the Bible with Palestinian eyes. He found some answers when he realised that the basis for their theology was justice. Cedar could identify with this and realised it offered a way of keeping her faith.

Nain Ateek had the same questions both Cedar and her father had been asking. When he studied theology he found the questions remained. He collected the questions and discussed the burning issues. Among the books he wrote is one entitled Justice and Only Justice.He called ten concerned Christians around him, including Cedar, and in 1990 held a conference at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute.

He is very clear that there can be no Jewish State for all are equal in the sight of God. That principle he says must be declared. At the same time he does not believe God equals despair. According to Nain, “Love your neighbour” means “stand by him”. Christians in Israel have choices. They can remain blind and keep telling people about heaven. Or they can move on and leave Israel for the Jews. In other words, accept the Zionist argument that God has given this land to “His people”.

Or, the final choice, they can decide to work for justice and be in solidarity with all who suffer under the current regime.

Cedar now works at Sabeel, a peace organisation filled with committed people who have decided to remain in their homeland and work for justice and be in solidarity with the oppressed. Palestinian Liberation Theology is their guide.

Cedar has a son who now lives in Los Angeles. Before he migrated he wanted only to die. He simply couldn’t cope with the thought of a future in his native land. There are many such stories, too many to tell. Cedar knows the suffering that comes from this. It was she who inspired Sr Anne Powell’s poem, printed below.

Anawim
the bent-over ones

Old woman of Palestine tends
her onions and mint
the slow bend of head
reverences earth
she doesn’t own
hears the moan of wind
in the olive grove.

Old woman of Palestine bends
to be invisible
to the horizon’s glare
bends to bury her voice
beneath the olive tree
believes in new shoots.
Anne Powell rc