Vatican encourages Good Friday donations for the Holy Land Vatican, Mar. 22 (CWNews.com)

Vatican, Mar. 22 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has asked Catholic churches throughout the world to collect funds for Christians in the Holy Land during their Good Friday services.

In a letter to all the world's bishops, the Congregation for Eastern Churches said that the Good Friday collections could "promote among the Christian faithful a love for the land of the Lord." The letter from the Vatican was signed by Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud and Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio: the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation.

Since the time of Pope Paul V, in 1618, the Church has made a special call for prayers and contributions on behalf of the Christians in the Holy Land. The annual collection for this purpose was reaffirmed by Pope Paul VI in his apostolic exhortation Nobis in Animo in 1974.

Appeals for Support of Christians in Holy Land VATICAN CITY, MARCH 21, 2005 (Zenit.org).

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 21, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Congregation for Eastern Churches launched an appeal to Catholics worldwide to give financial support to Christians in the Holy Land.

Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the congregation, said today that Popes "have established that on Good Friday, while the whole Church contemplates the face of the suffering Christ, there must be a remembrance in prayer and a 'charity collection' to support the 'living stones' that continue to celebrate and live the Christian faith in the holy places."

"Every year, at the beginning of Lent," he told Vatican Radio, "I address a letter to all the bishops of the Catholic Church and to the apostolic nuncios worldwide so that, with spiritual and material generosity, they draw near to their Catholic brothers and those that belong to other Christian Churches and communities [of the Holy Land] who suffer gravely because of their fidelity to Christ and to the Church, and feel the temptation to leave their native land because of the lack of peace."

ZE05032109

email this article: http://www.zenit.org/english/send_friend/index.phtml?sid=68137

Israeli envoy surveys relations with Vatican Rome, Mar. 15 (CWNews.com)

Rome, Mar. 15 (CWNews.com) - Israel's ambassador to the Holy See has offered an overview of diplomatic relations between his country and the Vatican.

Speaking to the Roman news agency I Media, Oded Ben Hur said that it was "significant and important" that the Pope had appointed Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican's former "foreign minister," to be his personal representative at ceremonies in Jerusalem this week to open a new museum at the Yad Vashem memorial to Holocaust victims. The Israeli ambassador added that he saw Cardinal Tauran as a representative not only of John Paul II but of "the whole Catholic Church."

Israeli official had originally extended an invitation of Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news), who head the Vatican committee for relations with the world's Jewish people. But the German cardinal was unable to make the trip to the Holy Land, so Cardinal Tauran was appointed. That selection struck Ben Hur as apt, since the French prelate "played a very important role in the normalization of diplomatic relations" between Israel and the Holy See.

In Israel, the opening of the new museum is seen as the most important event since the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, the former prime minister who was assassinated by a Jewish extremist in November 1995. Among the dozens of international dignitaries attending the opening ceremonies will be UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, nine European heads of state, six prime ministers, and four foreign ministers.

Ambassador Ben Hur observed that Cardinal Tauran was arriving in Jerusalem at a time when diplomats are looking forward to the final conclusion of a long-delayed judicial-financial agreement between Israel and the Holy See. During his stay, the cardinal will meet with Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom, and presumably discuss the negotiations on that agreement. The talks are set to resume on March 31, with follow-up sessions scheduled for April.

Since the Holy See formally recognized Israel in December 1993, and established diplomatic ties in June 1994, the completion of the juridical-financial pact-- called for in the agreements that gave rise to diplomatic relations-- has awaited 10 years. The current negotiations are centering on four key difficulties: the tax treatment of Church properties; access to Israel's secular courts for resolution of disputes; taxation on revenues generated by Church-run organizations; and tax exemptions for vehicles owned by Church institutions.

According to the Israeli ambassador,"thanks to the personal involvement of the prime minister, we hope to conclude this accord as quickly as possible." The conclusion of those negotiations should open a new era in relations between Israel and the Vatican, he added. Ben Hur suggested that future cooperation could involve broader official exchanges, and common work on subjects of mutual interest such as anti-Semitism, Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism, and cultural collaboration in the Middle East.

The Israeli ambassador conceded that "relations between the Vatican and the state of Israel will never be like those between two normal states." He explained: "We are two unique models in the system of international relations." Ben Hur said that Israel has a keen interest in reviving interest among the world's Christians in making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. In February, the tourism ministers of Israel and the Palestinian Authority were scheduled to make an unusual joint appearance to encourage pilgrims. That appearance never took place, because a new Palestinian governing cabinet was formed, and did not include a tourism minister. But Oded Ben Hur says that Israel hopes to pursue the project nevertheless.

Returning to the immediate cause of Cardinal Tauran's visit to Jerusalem, the new Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem, the Israeli envoy said that the project "forms a link between the vicimts and the new state of Israel." The recognition of the Holocaust helped to change Catholic attitudes toward the Israeli state, Ben Hur observed, citing the work of the French Catholic theologian Jacques Maritain, who was active in the fight against anti-Jewish prejudice particularly after World War II.

The Israeli ambassador pointed to another landmark in relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism: the Vatican II statement Nostra Aetate (doc) , condemning anti-Semitism and rejecting the notion that the Jewish people were corporately responsible for Christ's death. Ben Hur said that Pope John Paul II (bio - news) has helped to solidify Catholic relations with Judaism, by visiting the Holy Land in 2000, and meeting with the Israeli president in an explicit gesture of recognition for the secular government.

Neverthless, Ben Hur continued, it is important to "establish true dialogue between Jews and Christians" to enrich mutual understanding. "The greatest problem is ignorance," he said; the task today is to overcome the "abyss" of ignorance created by generations of anti-Semitism.

Cardinal Tauran is papal envoy to Jerusalem ceremonies Jerusalem, Mar. 14 (CWNews.com)

Jerusalem, Mar. 14 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican archivist, is acting as the Pope's personal representative at the opening of a new history museum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

The Israeli government official responsible for inter-religious relations, Nimrod Barkan, had sought to ensure Vatican representation at this week's ceremonies, which will recall the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. During a late-February trip to the Vatican, Barkan underlined the importance of the events from the Jewish perspective, and the importance of sending a papal delegate as a signal of Vatican commitment to improved relations with Israel. More than 35 government leaders are expected to attend the ceremonies, held in Jerusalem on March 15 and 16. Among the dignitaries in attendance will be UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, and French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Cardinal Tauran, prior to his appointment as Vatican archivist, was the Secretary for Relations with States-- in effect, the foreign minister of the Holy See.