Israel continues to deny visas to Catholic religious
Zenit.org (30.07.2003)/ HRWF Int. - Israel continues to deny visas to religious wishing to enter the Holy Land, despite the commitments assumed with the Apostolic Nuncio, Father Giovanni Battistelli lamented.
"We are unable to obtain from the Israeli government entry and residence visas for Religious," Father Battistelli, superior of the Fransiscan Custody said in an interview with SIR, the Italian Episcopal Conference news service.
"Despite the agreements signed between the Holy See and Israel, difficulties always arise," he said.
The situation not only affects the Friars Minor (Franciscans) but also numerous religious of other congregations, the Franciscan said.
"With reference to the custody, there are 15 friars in Israel who are waiting to regularize their position; others are in Italy and Syria. We do not know what we can do so that they can return to Israel," Father Battistelli added.
"This situation of stagnation causes serious problems for the custody of the shrines of the Holy Places, which are deprived of their necessary presence," he said.
According to Father Battistelli, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio in Israel, "has communicated the situation, receiving competent answers from the authorities but without results."
Commenting on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Tuesday visit with George W. Bush, the Franciscan said he was optimistic about the progress of the "Road Map" for peace in the Middle East, and expressed his opposition to the construction of a wall in the West Bank that would separate the Palestinian territories.
"It would distance these two peoples even more and would cut the center of Bethany, where many Christians live in 24 houses with the help of the Churches," he said.
Father Battistelli confirmed "the progressive resumption" of pilgrimages, especially from Italian dioceses.
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Israel Has Not Granted Visas to 86 Priests and Religious
Church Panel Cites "Serious Effects" in Report to Nuncio
Zenit.org (24.03.2003) / HRWF Int. (24.03.2003) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A Catholic Church committee said that Israel has not granted 86 entry visas to priests and religious who want to carry out their work in the Holy Land.
Among those who have not been given visas are three Missionaries of Charity, according to a report sent to the papal nuncio on Saturday by Assumptionist Father Robert J. Fortin, on behalf of the ad hoc Committee.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the nuncio, will make the results known to the Israeli government.
The report stated: "A recent survey conducted among the Catholic Churches present in the Holy Land, including the religious congregations of men and women and the various institutions that come under their jurisdiction, reveals that 86 applications for entry visas and residence permits for religious personnel that have been requested but have not yet been granted."
"They include 36 men and 50 women from 13 countries," the report said. "The number of such applications is therefore considerable and ... is having serious effects on the Catholic Church in Israel and the Palestinian Territories."
Others face the same fate, the committee said. Barring a change in government policy, the residence visas of 22 Jordanian seminarians in Beit Jala apparently will not be renewed in the coming months, the panel said.
The religious personnel whose cases are pending come from 13 countries, although the great majority, 70, come from Arab countries: Jordan (29), Lebanon (23), Syria (9), Iraq (6) and Egypt (3).
"In the present political context, the Church in the Holy Land understands perfectly well that the state of Israel must take all the security measures it deems necessary to protect its own safety and that of its citizens," the report said. "However, it finds unjustified the indiscriminate application of these measures to the religious domain."
