"Therefore, five components are essential to Jerusalem and have to be taken clearly and equally into consideration: two peoples, Palestinian and Israeli, and three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

For two thousand years, Jerusalem was a source of continuous wars because it was always governed by the one political authority corresponding to one religion, Christians, Moslem, and today Jewish.

If we want to give Jerusalem a permanent stability, so that it will remain no more a source of war, it should have a special status which responds to the five essential components, two peoples and three religions.

No one should remain outside Jerusalem. All five components, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Christians, and Moslems, all of them, should feel themselves in Jerusalem equally at home, equally sharing the same rights and duties.

If Jerusalem continues to be governed by only one political authority, that means that the one who remains outside will nourish in his soul and heart the desire to come back and to enter Jerusalem again by war and by violence, as it happened until now through the long history of the Holy City. "

Catholic International

February 1996

[ compare to POPE & JERUSALEM ]

page 93 begin quote-

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ECUMENISM WITHIN THE CHURCHES OF JERUSALEM

AND IN THE REGION OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Within the Catholic Church, there is a common point for coordination and fraternal living of the church communion. The Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land exists today. The members are all the Catholic dioceses in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan: Latin, Melkite, Syrian, Maronite, Armenian, and Chaldean Rites.

Amongst all Christians, there are regular meetings, though not constituted until now in any kind of structure. But there are common actions and initiatives. There is a common prayer in every Church and within the hearts of all and a common desire to respond to the prayer of Jesus for the unity of his Church. Therefore, Christians in the Holy Land, though divided, have engaged in a fraternal journey. Together they are facing their common problems and fate.

At the level of the region, the MECC unites all the Churches, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, representing the 15 million Christian Arabs, in one effort and common walk towards coordination and unity. It is a very positive instrument of ecumenical action which has already done so much and which can still make much more for the benefit of ecumenism in the region and in every church in the region.

In conclusion, much is already done; but, there is still much to do. And, the most important is to find the right ways for any ecumenical action or initiative which leads to a true conversion, the only necessary condition for a true communion in the one mystical and ecclesial body of Jesus Christ.

THE CHRISTIAN SIGNIFICANCE OF JERUSALEM

AND THE LOCAL CHURCH

In November 1994, the Christian leaders of Jerusalem published a memorandum on the Christian Significance of Jerusalem and their vision for a future stable city which should remain a city of peace.*(e) Jerusalem is holy for the three religions. Inside it, two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, have political rights and are, until now, disputing over it. For Christians, Jerusalem is the city of the roots, where everything started and happened, where every Church and every Christian was born. It is the city of Jesus Christ, the city where the mystery of the Redemption took place, the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Pentecost.

Therefore, five components are essential to Jerusalem and have to be taken clearly and equally into consideration: two peoples, Palestinian and Israeli, and three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For two thousand years, Jerusalem was a source of continuous wars because it was always governed by the one political authority corresponding to one religion, Christians, Moslem, and today Jewish. If we want to give Jerusalem a permanent stability, so that it will remain no more a source of war, it should have a special status which responds to the five essential components, two peoples and three religions.

Moreover, Jerusalem should have a special status in order to remain open to all and in all times of war or peace. Any political authority could be, one way or the other, in war with other countries as it is until between Israelis and Palestinians and Arab countries. In that case, Jerusalem will be of free access to all friends and inaccessible to all enemies, as it was in the past and as it is now. Today, for security reasons, it is not accessible to all Arabs, Christians, or Moslems in Arab countries, and even to the inhabitants of the surrounding and near Occupied Territories in the West Bank.

This special status may be imagined and forged and executed by the local Israeli and Palestinian authorities, with the sharing of the local Church. It does not need an international status, but a local status guaranteed by the international community.

It could be the historical privilege of Israel to give Jerusalem today this special status, and so to give it a real permanent stability, allowing the five components, two peoples, and three religions, to share equally in it.

CONCLUSION

The Church of Jerusalem lives in a situation of political conflict between the peoples of the region, but also in a situation of ongoing reconciliation and building of peace. It lives in a situation of dialogue and ecumenism among Christians themselves and with Judaism and Islam. The vocation of the Church of Jerusalem, as the vocation of all the Holy Land, is a universal and ecumenical one. Diversity and difference will always remain one of its essential features. All, Christians, Moslems, and Jews have to find their way to a life worthy of their land in order to constitute the one reconciled family of the Holy Land, despite all the differences of creed or national belonging.

All those who love this land and the peoples of this land should help toward this reconciliation and the creation of the one family, which can only be based on the mutual respect and recognition of the dignity given by God equally to every person or people. Thank you.

*e See- Catholic International, Vol. 6 No.4, April 1995, pp.180-184.

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Catholic International

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