ISRAELIS AIMING TO EASE VISA DELAYS FOR RELIGIOUS AND PRIESTS Ambassador to Holy See Says Solution Is Imminent ROME, APRIL 19, 2004 (Zenit.org)

ROME, APRIL 19, 2004 (Zenit.org).- An Israeli commission is reviewing the bureaucratic bottleneck that causes delays in the issuance of visas to religious and priests in the Holy Land.

Last month, the Italian press reported on the increasingly difficult situation that Catholic religious face in Israel and in the Occupied Territories due to the authorities' systematic refusal to renew their visas.

According to a report April 13, the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See sent AsiaNews an official note stating that the "directors and officials of different Ministries ... together with the ambassador of Israel to the Holy See, have made evident the need to resolve in a brief period of time the complex and delicate situation."

"Immediately after Easter procedures will be accelerated to unblock the accumulation of dispatches," the note states.

According to the text sent by the Israeli diplomatic headquarters to the Holy See, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon himself requested the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Commission to "review the criteria, rules and necessary times ... as well as a review of the whole bureaucratic mechanism" which has led to the delay in the issuance of visas.

The commission already held meetings on several occasions in February.

Oded Ben Hur, Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, told AsiaNews last week that the effects of the modification of the procedure might be felt "in seven to 10 days."

The note also stressed that "great importance" that the Israeli government attaches "to the strengthening of good relations between Israel and the Christian world and, in particular, with Catholics and the Holy See" and affirmed that "the apostolic nuncio in Israel will be informed of all decisions and deliberations in regard to the visas."

Ecclesiastical sources in Jerusalem, contacted by AsiaNews, said: "We hope that this time the promises -- reiterated other times over the last two years -- will be fulfilled."

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Israel promises to fix Church personnel visa problem 14 April, 2004 CathNews

The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See has told the missionary news agency AsiaNews that a backlog of paperwork will be cleared "immediately after Easter", to enable Church personnel to obtain visas to live and work in the Holy Land.

AsiaNews has been reporting on longtime Catholic religious personnel being treated like “illegal immigrants” after years of living in Israel.

The Israel embassy statement specifies that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (pictured, with Pope) had called for the formation of an “Inter-Ministerial Commission” to “review criteria, rules and necessary timelines… as well as the whole bureaucratic process” that led to delays in issuing the visas.

The Inter-Ministerial Commission includes representatives from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, Justice and Tourism. The Commission had met on various occasions last February. Its conclusions have now been released to various ministries.

The Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben Hur, assured to AsiaNews that the change in procedure will bear its effects “within 7-10 days”. The embassy’s note stresses “the great importance” the Israeli government gives to “strengthening good relations between Israel and the Christian world, particularly with Catholics and the Holy See.”

Church sources in Jerusalem told AsiaNews that they are optimistic that Israel will now honour the promises it has made repeatedly over the past two years.

Israeli Commission searching for solution regarding visas for religious personnel 13 April, 2004 ISRAEL - VATICAN, Vatican City (AsiaNews)

There will soon be a solution to the problem regarding visas for foreign religious personnel serving in Israel.

The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See sent an official note to AsiaNews in which it said “Directors and workers of various ministries... together with Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See have pointed out the need to resolve shortly this complex and delicate situation.” The statement says “immediately after Easter procedures will be sped up to unfreeze the pile of (idle) paperwork."

The news released some weeks ago by AsiaNews reported the difficulties male and female Catholic religious personnel experienced who, after years living in Israel, are now being treated like “illegal immigrants”. This is so on account of their visa renewal requests not being taken into consideration by Israel’s Interior Ministry.

The Israel embassy statement specifies that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon himself had called for the formation of an “Inter-Ministerial Commission” to “review criteria, rules and necessary timelines… as well as the whole bureaucratic process” that led to delays in issuing the visas.

The Inter-Ministerial Commission includes representatives from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, Justice and Tourism. The Commission had met on various occasions last February.

The Commission’s conclusions have now been released to various ministries.

The last meeting took place on April 5 at the Ministry of the Interior. Discussed at the meeting was the new procedure which includes reducing bureaucratic procedures, shortening security checks, revising visa categories (such as for priests, volunteers, temporary workers, scholarship study abroad holders, etc.). For religious who have lived a while in Israel ‘there will be a suitable status found permitting their stay” in the country.

The Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben Hur, assured to AsiaNews that the change in procedure will bear its effects “within 7-10 days”.

Israel promises quick resolution of visa dispute Vatican, Apr. 13 (AsiaNews)

The Israeli government has promised a quick resolution of a dispute with the Catholic Church over visas for missionaries working in the Holy Land.

The AsiaNews service reports today that Israel's ambassador to the Holy See has acknowledged "the need to resolve shortly this complex and delicate situation." The Israeli ambassador, Oded Ben Hur, told AsiaNews that efforts to "unfreeze the pile of paperwork" would begin "immediately after Easter," and should produce results within 7- 10 days.

Church officials reacted cautiously to the Israeli statement, observing that they have heard similar promises in the past. For about two years, Catholic clerics working in the Holy Land have found it impossible to secure visas to remain there. Vatican officials have complained, with rising urgency, that the Israeli policy violates the terms of that government's "fundamental accord" with the Holy See.

Vatican presses Israel on visa policy Vatican, Apr. 12 (CWNews.com)

The Vatican's diplomatic representative in the Holy Land has stepped up the pressure for Israel to stop blocking the renewal of visas for missionaries.

"I sincerely hope for the renewal of entry visas and residency permits for all the religious personnel seeking to come to, or stay in, Israel," Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio in Jerusalem, told Vatican Radio on April 11.

Vatican officials have expressed mounting concern about the Israeli policy blocking visas for foreign priests and religious-- a policy that seems clearly to violate the terms of Vatican agreements with the Israeli government. For the past two years, missionaries have not been able to secure new visas, and the archbishop said that the policy creates the impression "that Israel wants to limit the Christian presence in the Holy Land."

Archbishop Sambi reported that Israel's new interior minister has promised, on several occasions, that the problem with visas will be resolved. "Now it is time to resolve it, if he has the political will," the nuncio said. A resolution, he continued, would mean "not making promises, but giving visas."

The nuncio observed that some of the clerics seeking to enter the Holy Land come from countries that Israel views as hostile, such as Syria. But the archbishop insisted: "Catholics religious personnel are not anyone's enemies." Their role in the Holy Land will be simply to fulfill the needs of the Church, he said.

The archbishop said that Israel's current policy is bound to create resentments, and hurt Israel's standing with other nations. He said that a quick resolution of the visa problem would be "an indispensable step for good relations among Israel, the local Church, and the Holy See."

ADL urges Israeli government to resolve clergy-visa issue 13 April 2004 JERUSALEM (CNS)

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- The New York-based Anti-Defamation League has urged the Israeli government to resolve the backlog of visa renewals for Christian clergy working or residing in Israel. "We have received many calls and complaints, and we have done our best to assure our Christian friends that we know that this matter is being taken seriously and will be resolved soon," ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman wrote in an April 8 letter to Israeli Interior Minister Avram Poraz. "While we recognize that these delays are not caused by any purposeful interference with the work of Christian clergy, it is difficult to explain," he said in his letter. "It is our hope that your intervention will create the impetus necessary to see this problem to its speedy and proper resolution." Assumptionist Father Robert Fortin, director of the Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem, told Catholic News Service that, in the first three months of 2004, 52 religious were denied visas, bringing the total to 138 religious who are still trying to obtain permission to work in the Holy Land.

Franciscans accuse Israel of ‘calculated’ visa delays The Tablet.co.uk, World Church News - 10 April 2004,

Franciscans accuse Israel of ‘calculated’ visa delays The Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land have accused Israel of deliberately refusing to renew visas to Christian priests, religious and lay workers. They fear that behind the continuing denials of permission to enter, re-enter or extend their stay in Israel and Palestine is a calculated policy by Ariel Sharon’s Government.

“We are dealing with a very serious problem indeed, one which is getting worse by the day,” said Fr David Jaeger, a spokesman for the Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land. “Top-ranking government officials won’t let us know their reasons behind the new policy. There are no official channels of dialogue to bring about a resolution to the situation.”

The Israeli Government says the Prime Minister is responding to the growing number of complaints of long delays in processing visas. Sharon is said to have asked officials from the National Security Council to head the intra-ministerial committee, which will formulate clear rules for the visa extensions.

“In the Catholic world there is a growing view that Israel has deliberately framed a policy to hurt the Church,” Fr Jaeger told the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Nobody believes some clerk in the population registry is able to reach these decisions on his own.”

The pastoral work of the Church in Israel and the Palestinian territories relies heavily on missionaries. The Church says there are now 138 cases of pending requests for entry visas and for extensions of residence permits, a 50 per cent increase on the previous year. Some 89 priests and seminarians and 49 sisters of various religious congregations are awaiting decisions. They include 66 Franciscans, of whom 51 are present in the country illegally because their residence visas have not yet been renewed.

One of the Vatican’s most senior diplomats, Cardinal Roberto Tucci, is also concerned. Speaking to Vatican Radio on 2 April, he said Israel’s visa policy violated the country’s fundamental agreement with the Holy See signed in 1993. The pact makes clear that Israeli authorities are pledged to cooperate with the missionary activities of Catholic institutions.

Vatican concerns have been reinforced by the fact that the Israeli policy has not been explained, and there are no “institutional channels for dialogue” on the subject, Cardinal Tucci said. He urged Western Churches in Europe and America to apply pressure on the Israeli Government to alleviate the situation for the Holy Land’s Christians.

Although this year’s Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem went ahead as normal, it was widely believed that the construction of Israel’s controversial security barrier will make the route impassable next year.

In recent weeks, Israeli bulldozers have concentrated their work on the Mount of Olives at Beit Fagi – “the Place of the Unripe Dates” – where, according to legend, Jesus asked for food while on his way to Jerusalem. All that could be found, the legend goes, was the unripe fruit of palm trees.

Three thousand pilgrims carrying aloft palm and olive branches had to navigate a section of the concrete wall when they reached Beit Fagi on Palm Sunday.

Lily Feidy, deputy secretary-general of Miftah, a Palestinian non-governmental organisation, told The Tablet on Tuesday that construction of the wall in the area would be completed by the end of this year.

Although the wall on the Mount of Olives will be shielded from the view of most tourists to Jerusalem, it will be only a few hundred metres from the Old City. Despite paying taxes to the Jerusalem municipality, hundreds of local families will be stranded on the wrong side of the barrier, and will soon find it almost impossible to gain access to the city or benefit from its services.

Michael Hirst

An Easter story in Jerusalem: Israel accused of discriminating against Catholic priests By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem and Peter Popham in Rome, 09 April 2004, Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

As it has on the eve of every Easter for the best part of nine centuries, a procession of clergy wound its way yesterday afternoon behind a tall silver cross through the alleys of Jerusalem's Old City from the Latin Patriarchate for the three-hour Holy Thursday mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The scene could hardly have been more peaceful as the priests, led by a traditional detachment of guards in pantaloons of the Ottoman era, arrived for the mass close to Christ's tomb. But the mass, of particular importance in the ancient diocese's calendar because it is the one at which its priests traditionally renew their vows, took place this year against the background of simmering discontent within the Church over widespread delays in the granting of more than 100 visas by Israel to Roman Catholic clergy.

Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch, head of a diocese which covers Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and the first Palestinian to hold the post since it was established in 1099, warned last Monday that the delays were an issue which "concerns the survival of the churches here". He added that they threatened "complete paralysis for the church which means it is an existential question".

Senior Catholics in Rome and Jerusalem said yesterday the delays breached an agreement between the Vatican and Israel in 1993 guaranteeing the rights and freedoms for the Church in the holy land.

The hold-ups, which have left dozens of priests without legal status in Israel and the occupied territories, mostly apply to clergy already in the country. But they have also prevented transfers within the diocese between Jordan and Israel as well as causing hold ups and detentions at checkpoints - of priests and at least one nun - attempting to travel between the West Bank and Gaza to Israel and vice versa.

The majority of the diocese's 400,000-strong congregation are Christian Palestinians. In Rome yesterday, Fr David Jaeger, the official spokesman for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, said the fundamental agreement in 1993 had not yet been enshrined into Israeli law and that in August last year Israel had pulled out of follow-up negotiations designed to reach a detailed agreement on taxation and property rights for the Roman Catholic Church in Israel. He said: "This is a treaty obligation. In the '93 treaty is assumed a solemn treaty obligations to negotiate precisely such an agreement. There is no way to explain non compliance in such an obligation."

Fr Jaeger added that in 1994, the parties had already foreseen a further agreement on the detailed arrangements on the entry and sojourn in Israel of international church personnel. The further agreement on visas and residence permits has not happened, and over the past two years, there has been an increasing number of cases in which international church personnel are not having residence permits routinely renewed.

He said: "It is without precedent in international relations to walk out on a treaty obligation ... This is not just a legal matter: the fundamental agreement was signed in the context of a renewed relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people and it was the Israeli delegation that insisted on this being ... the context."

He also suggested that the tax exemption which the Vatican enjoys by virtue of treaties and UN resolutions in the US and Britain only have de facto status in Israel because they are also not enshrined in UK law. He said that bills of municipal rates had accumulated which if ever called in by Israel, "we would be wiped out".

The Patriarchate said that of 138 people waiting for visas, 54 are from Western and Asian countries, while 84 are from Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority. The Interior Minister, Avraham Poraz, has given instructions to speed up the process but acknowledges that some Arab visa applicants are receiving particular scrutiny. Tova Ellinson, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman, said: "The policy of the ministry is not to cause delays but to give the best treatment possible." The Foreign Ministry also said that Sylvan Shalom was seeking a speedy resolution to the problem "which is technical and bureaucratic in nature".

Fr Shawki Baterian, Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate, said yesterday in Jerusalem that the delays were damaging the pastoral work of the diocese by restricting travel by the clergy. He said that he knew of at least one priest who had been prevented from reaching the Holy Sepulchre mass yesterday because he did not have a visa.

"We understand the need of Israel to carry out security checks but this is causing embarrassment to priests who are without visas and goes against the agreement of Israel to the freedom of clergy in the Holy Land." He added that Mr Poraz had said he would expedite the granting of visas "but so far this has not been implemented".

Brother Myron Collins, one of the De La Salle Brothers, an order based in Bethlehem, who is American, said yesterday that a group of the brothers who had been waiting for their visas to be renewed since applying last November, had all received their new visas last week - except for one, Brother Jean Manuel who is a Palestinian. He said: "My personal opinion is that Israel is doing this because it wants to punish the Palestinians and make them go away."

Brother Myron said another brother who had been waiting for a visa, Brother Cyril Litecky, had been stopped at a checkpoint while travelling to Jerusalem. "He stopped going after that because he was frightened he wouldn't be able to get back." He said it was "not an impossibility" the other brothers, Americans and Britons, had received visas because of the impending talks with President George Bush next week by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.

The hold-ups have even drawn accusations from one priest, Father Robert Fortin - denied by the government - that they flow from a desire to reinforce the Jewish character of the state by reducing the number of Christians.

Code: ZE04040801, Date: 2004-0-08, Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem Protests Lack of Visas, Religious and Priests Facing Difficulties

JERUSALEM, APRIL 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A papal representative in Jerusalem has presented a complaint to Israel's interior minister and foreign minister about the visa problems of priests and religious in the Holy Land.

On Wednesday, the newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported an incident with Israeli border policewomen who were inspecting the documents and residence permits of 23 Catholic women religious in Jerusalem's Malhala shopping center.

The police obliged the nuns, headed by the 70-year-old superior of the convent, to stand with their faces against the wall while being inspected, as they did not have the required permits because the Ministry of the Interior has delayed in issuing them.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic delegate in Jerusalem, presented a complaint to Interior Minister Abraham Poraz and to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.

The archbishop stated in his complaint that the delay in processing the permits affects the religious of the Church throughout the country.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry explained that it is a question of religious who arrive from Arab countries. For security reasons, their documents take longer to process, the aide said.

Two weeks ago, the immigration police detained a Franciscan friar of Polish nationality, and were about to expel him from the country, as was the case of hundreds of religious without residence permits, despite the fact that he explained to the officers that he was awaiting the extension of his expired permit.

The expulsion was avoided thanks to the intervention of the Foreign Ministry, the newspaper reported.

Sources of that ministry told the newspaper that "the problems have been aggravated lately."

Gadi Golan, in charge of the Division of Worship in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, acknowledged that the criticisms are becoming a source of concern. According to sources of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Israel has refused to grant residence permits to 130 priests.

A few days ago, the newspaper Haaretz reported that, in response to the Holy See's protests, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has appointed an interministerial commission to resolve the problems.

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Church Officials Say Israel Delaying Visas, By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Published: April 7, 2004, Filed at 4:45 p.m. ET

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has delayed granting visas to dozens of Roman Catholic clergy, church officials said Wednesday, and Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah called it an issue of survival for the church in the Holy Land.

Father Robert Fortrin, a church official, said the visa applications of 138 Catholic clergy — many of them Arabs — have been held up by Israel's Interior Ministry, a 60 percent increase since last year in the number of visas delayed.

Fortrin said Interior Minister Avraham Poraz promised to solve the problem, but so far there have been no results.

On Monday, Sabbah, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, said the visa delays were undermining the ability of the church to function.

"The (visa) issue concerns the survival of the churches here," said Sabbah, a Palestinian.'' So it will be complete paralysis for the church, which means it's an existential question for the church."

The Latin Patriarchate presides over about 400,000 Roman Catholics in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jordan.

Tova Ellinson, spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said Arab visa applicants were undergoing special scrutiny, and that this explained some of the delays.

"The minister has given instructions to ease procedures," she said. "Arab applications are given to the relevant authorities. The policy of the ministry is not to cause delays but to give the best treatment possible."

Fortrin said of 138 applicants waiting for visas, 54 were from Western and Asian countries, and 84 were from Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority.

He also cited two cases in which Catholic clergy were harassed by Israeli security forces.

A Polish priest was taken off a bus in Tel Aviv and arrested by immigration police on March 15, Fortrin said. Two weeks earlier, a 74-year-old nun was removed from her car and verbally bullied by border policewomen at a Jerusalem shopping mall, he said.

Fortrin said the priest had told police that his application for an extension was pending, but was ignored. He said he was not familiar with the nun's visa status.

Immigration police spokesman Rafi Yaffee said foreigners without valid visas were treated in line with the provisions of the law, and this is what happened in the case of the Polish priest.

A police spokesman in Jerusalem said he was not familiar with the incident involving the nun.

Fortrin said Israel's treatment of Catholic clergy violates a 1993 Israeli-Vatican agreement, which allows the church to appoint and deploy personnel to carry out religious, educational and charitable functions in the Holy Land.

"There are lots of people who have come to the conclusion that there is a desire to reduce the number of Christians in the country to reinforce Jewish character of state," he said.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Fortrin's allegation was nonsense.

"This is a secular government," the official said. "The Ministry of the Interior itself is in the hands of an extremely secular party."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said the visa problem was the responsibility of the Interior Ministry, but Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was trying to find a solution.

"The Foreign Ministry is interested in bringing a speedy resolution to the problem, which is technical and bureaucratic in nature," he said.

Visa situation worsens for religious in Holy Land, priest says NEWS BRIEFS Apr-5-2004, By Catholic News Service

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Visa problems are worsening for foreign religious living and working in the Holy Land, a church official said. Assumptionist Father Robert Fortin, director of the Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem, said that 138 religious have been denied visas so far this year, up from 86 last year. Generally, religious living in the West Bank or Gaza have been unable to obtain a visa, he said. "That includes Americans, British, Irish, priests, nuns. Most of them are staying here illegally," he said. In late March, a British religious brother who teaches at Bethlehem University in the West Bank was denied treatment at a Jerusalem hospital because his visa expired, Father Fortin said. Many religious are afraid to go out on the streets for fear of being arrested, he said. A Polish Franciscan brother was arrested March 15 on a bus near Tel Aviv. The brother was jailed and released after a lot of "diplomatic maneuvering," Father Fortin said.

Vatican impatience with Israeli visa policy Vatican, Apr. 02 (CWNews.com)

Vatican, Apr. 02 (CWNews.com) - In a sign of mounting tensions between the Vatican and Israel, a cardinal has denounced the treatment of Catholic missionaries in the Jewish state.

Cardinal Roberto Tucci, in an April 2 talk on Vatican Radio, said that Catholic priests and religious are being treated as "clandestine immigrants" because the Israeli government refuses to renew their visas, in an apparent violation of the "fundamental accord" between the Holy See and Israel.

"The Israeli government has a lot of concerns these days, but by blocking the issuance of residency permits for monks and nuns, they are posing serious problems for the Catholic in Israel and the Palestinian territories," the cardinal said. Cardinal Tucci, the honorary president of Vatican Radio, is a seasoned diplomat, having served for years as the "advance man" who arranged the details of papal trips abroad.

For the past two year, Catholic missionaries living in Israel have found that their applications for visa renewals are being blocked. As more and more missionaries saw their visas expire before a renewal was granted, the situation became a matter of urgency. By March 2004, at least 130 priests and religious were living in Israel without legal permission.

While the Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem has 78 diocesan priests, there are more than 1217 Franciscans working in the Holy Land, along with over 100 other religious congregations accounting for nearly 2,000 monks and nuns. Nearly all of these religious orders include missionaries from other countries, so the pastoral work of the Church in Israel and the Palestinian territories relies heavily on foreign missionaries.

Church authorities point out that under the terms of their 1993 pact with the Holy See, Israeli authorities are pledged to cooperate with the missionary activities of Catholic institutions; they see the new visa policy as a contravention of that agreement.

The cardinal observed that Catholic missionaries living in Israel, when they are denied visa renewals, are forced to live as illegal immigrants. "This is a grave situation that worsens day by day," he said. He added that Vatican concerns are heightened by the fact that the Israeli policy has not been explained, and there are no "institutional channels for dialogue" on the subject.

"I hope that the Western churches-- European and American-- will exercise pressures to help the Church in Israel and the Palestinian territories," Cardinal Tucci said.