Christians Continue to Struggle in Holy Land While World Focuses on Road Map

By Fred Strickert

from: WRMEA (used w/permission).

Christianity has long been described as an endangered species in the Holy Land. As early as 1974, Pope Pius VI saw the effects of Israeli occupation on the Christian community and warned against the day when Christian holy sites and churches "would be without the warmth of a living witness" and empty "like museums."

While the world community focuses on the road map and looks hopefully toward an era of peace, there are numerous signs of a continued struggle for the Palestinian church.

It is estimated that Christians today number only 1.9 percent of residents of the Holy Land, or about 200,000. This is a drop from 7.5 percent in 1944, just prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, and from 15 percent in 1881. When one considers natural growth rates, the actual number of Christians should be at least three times the current figure.

In his June newsletter, Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan mentioned that, according to U.S. State Department reports, 1,600 Palestinian Christian families emigrated to the U.S. in 2002.

Father Amjad Sabbara, pastor of Bethlehems Church of the Nativity, revealed during a June 6 briefing at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC that since the outbreak of the intifada in 2000, the Christian population of Bethlehem dropped by 1,500 people. Sabbara attributed the decline to "the paralyzing restrictions on movement as a result of continued closures, curfews, and sieges" and the collapse of the Palestinian economy.

Beit Sahour Home Demolitions

Both Father Sabbara and Bishop Younan announced plans by the church to build low-cost housing units to assist Christians facing economic difficulties as a way to combat emigration.

However, the Israel Committee against Home Demolitions announced in May that one such church-related housing project is marked for demolition. The Arab Orthodox Housing Project was organized in Beit Sahour 23 years ago to help individuals save money, obtain permits, and coordinate construction. Although the Greek Orthodox Church helped them obtain a 99-year lease, the Israeli army has announced that the 120 newly built housing units will be demolished.

The church has been attempting to appeal this order in the Israeli courts, but so far to no avail.

Visa Problems

Churches have experienced difficulties in obtaining visas for priests and religious workers to serve and to study in the Holy Land (see March 2003 Washington Report, p. 65). On March 22 an ad hoc committee of the Catholic Church submitted a report to the Israeli Department of Interior documenting 108 visa applications which are pending, some since March 2001.

These affect the Latin Church, the Greek-Melkite Church, and the Maronite Church in the following areas: General diocesan administration of the Latin Patriarchate, top-level administration of religious orders, educational institutions at all levels, seminaries and religious training (seminarians, novices, postulants), retreat centers and continuing education of religious personnel, parish pastors, hospital staff, monasteries, positions working with the poor and disadvantaged. The applicants include 50 women and 58 men.

While noting an appreciation for Israeli security concerns, the report points out that all applicants are publicly known and listed in the official registries of the Catholic Church. This, it concludes, is a clear departure from past agreements between the state of Israel and the Catholic Church: "In view of the foregoing, it may therefore be concluded that the Israeli government, by its extensive restrictions on entry visas and temporary residence permits, is currently in material breach of the principle of Freedom of Religion, as guaranteed by its own Declaration of Independence, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel."

The Israeli government responded April 24 by modifying the procedure for the visa application process. This would include a letter of recommendation from the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and an agreement to deal with these issues by appointment rather than the previous "stand-in-line" first-come, first-served policy.

By the end of June, however, Harry Hagopian wrote that "the overall situation of Catholic priests, religious, and seminarians has, on balance, worsened over the last months." The Ministry of Religious Affairs had been forthcoming with recommendations, he noted, but little had changed in the Department of the Interior. Since March 22, only six visas were granted, while two applications were rejected, and the rest remain pending.

These actions, Hagopian pointed out, affect the entire ministry of the Catholic Church, but most of all the Franciscans, since the headquarters for the Franciscan custody of the entire Middle East is located in Jerusalem, and the Latin Patriarch's seminary in Beit Jala.

Currently 29 applications for seminary students-including 22 from Jordan-are pending. With this number representing 75 percent of the total seminary student population last spring, the fall term is currently in jeopardy. In June Israel's Department of the Interior scheduled its appointment with seminary personnel for Aug. 23-only two days prior to the announced opening for the academic year. At best, classes will have to be postponed. At worst, the seminary may have to close.

"Closing the seminary," Hagopian responds, "would have serious consequences for the Catholic Church in the Holy Land because it has no other seminary where it can train its future priests who, necessarily, are native to the region."

The complete reports are located on the Internet at .

Other churches report similar difficulties. Anglican Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal reports that St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Zababdeh in the northern West Bank continues to exist without a priest, as Israeli officials have refused to issue residence permits to priests who serve that region. There are priests who try to make periodic visits, but with closures and curfews this has become not only an inconvenience, but nearly impossible.

Hospital Work

Medical care has suffered greatly during the intifada, with ambulances denied passage and medics targeted. Closures have made it difficult for those in need of medical care to reach hospitals. This has affected public and church-related hospitals alike.

In January, Israeli helicopters bombed St. Philip's Episcopal Chapel and Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, damaging major pieces of equipment, especially X-ray machines. Although Bishop Riah has filed a formal complaint with the Israeli army, he has yet to receive an apology or an explanation.

The Lutheran Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem has also come under attack. In this case, however, it is the Israeli tax system which has given notice that it no longer will abide by a 35-year-old agreement that has given this humanitarian institution tax-exempt status. Lutheran World Federation representative Craig Kippels says that if Augusta Victoria must pay the tax (including a substantial bill for back taxes), "it jeopardizes some if not all of what we do." This case also affects the status of other church-related agencies, four of which already have been notified of a change of tax status.

Despite the concern for the advancement of the peace process and the establishment of positive relations among Israelis and Palestinians, Israel continues to throw up roadblocks for the daily work of the Church.

Fred Strickert is professor of religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. This article originally appeared in The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in September 2003.