wfn.org | Papal Envoy Angered by Israel's Denial of Access to Church

[JerusalemRelOrgs@aol.com]

For information, contact:
Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
P.O.Box  14152 - Jerusalem 97500
E-mail address: latinpat@actcom.co.il 
Patriarchate's Homepage: www.lpj.org 

For more about Patriarch Michel Sabbah, see:
www.al-bushra.org/latpatra/patriarcharticle.htm

Cardinal Regards Action as Violation of Treaty Commitment

JERUSALEM, May 8, 2002  -- Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, having returned to Rome 
from his mission as a special envoy for Pope John Paul II in the Holy Land, 
has issued a pessimistic statement about the prospects for peace here.

As Cardinal Etchegaray left Jerusalem, an agreement that would have ended the 
36-day siege at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity broke down, apparently 
because diplomats had not secured Italy's agreement to accept 13 Palestinians 
who were to be sent there.

The cardinal described the situation at the Bethlehem basilica as "tragic and 
intolerable,"  according to the Rome-based CWNews.com.

He reported that, despite his repeated pleas, he was refused permission to 
enter the ancient church by Israeli authorities. 

That refusal, he suggested, was a direct violation of Israel's treaty 
commitment to ensure free access to Christian shrines.

"I had asked to go to this place and to pray in particular with the 
Franciscans who, in solidarity with the Greek-Orthodox and Armenian churches, 
bear the spiritual responsibility of this sacred place," Cardinal Etchegaray 
revealed.  "Despite great insistence, I was refused what is, properly 
speaking, a religious step."

The French-born prelate said that his latest trip to the Holy Land left him 
with a vivid impression of the hostility between the Israeli and Palestinian 
sides. 

"One must actually be there," he said, "to measure the mistrust, disdain, and 
vengeance that have accumulated on the steep path to peace."

Cardinal Etchegaray insisted that Catholic leaders would not rest until the 
situation in Bethlehem is resolved. In Jerusalem, Latin-rite Patriarch Michel
Sabbah told the Italian daily Avvenire that the situation is "very confused."

The Catholic Patriarch confessed that he himself could not understand how 
negotiators failed to include Italian government representatives in their 
plans. "How could you talk about an agreement" on the exile of suspected 
Palestinian terrorists, he asked, "when no decision has been made regarding 
the destination for some of those Palestinians?"

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