State Sovereignty - Religious Freedom
Italy, where the Roman Catholic Church was born - and where it locates itself within Vatican City as a geographic, religious, political entity separate and sovereign from the Italian State - agreed to cede the territory that Vatican City holds, in perpetuity to the Church. Vatican City is a state within a state. Answerable to, responsible to, none but itself. The pope reigns supreme within Vatican City, and he reigns infallible as the Shepherd of God from his kingdom to the world at large.
The wrench in this neat little equation is that many of the holiest places within Christendom reside in Israel - in Jerusalem, to be exact. And some of the sacred places in historical Christianity were built over earlier sites sacred to Israel. And to further complicate matters, places sacred to Islam - a late-comer in the 'Abrahamic' religions that began with the Jewish submission to monotheism, to the birth of Christianity, to that of Islam - were built over sites sacred to Judaism.
Jerusalem is the fabled city of the biblical era, ancient and revered by all three religions. When Jordan controlled the territory which included east Jerusalem, site of the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount, Jews were forbidden entry, while Christians were permitted there on sufferance and Muslims freely accessed the third-most sacred site in Islam, the Dome of the Rock, built over the Temple Mount.
In Jewish hands since 1967, Israel controls all of Jerusalem and permits respectful access to all three religions. And access to Judaism's most sacred site, the Wailing Wall, all that was left after the serial destructions of the Temple of Solomon, the Bais Hamikdosh (The Holy Temple)was finally accomplished. Under Jewish custody all religions may now access their religious sites within Jerusalem.
An uneasy reconciliation is the order of the day, with Israel treading on eggshells, conciliatorily enabling Muslims to continue their strict ownership of their holy sites, and itself taking a modest step backward with respect to its own, pre-existing sites. While on the other hand, some of Judaism's biblical holy sites are time and again vandalized by Palestinians within the Palestinian Territories.
Pope Benedict is set to visit Israel in the coming week, and to consolidate good feelings between Israel and the Vatican, there are some in the Israeli government, including the country's president, who are willing to conclude long-standing talks with the Roman Catholic Church to hand over a number of Christian holy sites unconditionally; to cede sovereignty.
Those sites are the Church of the Annunciation located in Nazareth, the Coenaculum at Mount Zion, Mount Tabor, west of the Sea of Galilee, Gethsemane, at the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, and the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fishes on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Israel has custody of all those areas and those sites, although there is a lack of international recognition of that custody.
Some sites are claimed by the Palestinian Authority as being in their custody. The Palestinian Authority insists that east Jerusalem be ceded to them, as their sovereign capital for a Palestinian state, should the two ever conclude a peace agreement leading to a two-state solution. As far as the Church is concerned, they claim: "All we are seeking are safeguards that [the sites] will not be taken away in the future", according to a source in Rome.
Obviously, on the record of past performance and obligations, that assurance is there, as long as Israel safeguards those sites. Islam is not known for its willingness to safeguard sites sacred to religions other than their own. For that matter, some of their sacred sites too, including the home of the Prophet Mohammad, have been destroyed, by Saudi Arabia, making way for architectural and civic progress. The Taliban thought nothing of destroying ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan.
Rabid Islamist fanatics think nothing of blowing their adversarial Muslim brethren to smithereens, while praying in a Shi'ite or Sunni mosque, as the case may be. Christian churches are destroyed without compunction. Israel gives full respect to sites valuable to religions other than her own. Yet during Pope Benedict's visit to Israel, Church officials have indicated they plan to demand that Israel give full control of the Coenaculum to the Vatican.
It was pointed out, logically enough, that such concessions limit the government's capacity to function with full sovereignty. On the most practical level, permission would have to be sought from the Vatican - should their demands prevail - for even municipal remedial work; repairing broken water pipes, sewage systems, roadways. Israel's relationship with the Vatican is not that of Italy's.
In fact, the Roman Catholic Church has too often been anything but supportive of Israel and of Jewish interests. Under the current pope too many occurrences have surfaced that give legitimate cause for concern. The status quo, where Israel furnishes free access and protections to religious holy sites is the correct course of action. Anything other is preposterous in its theory and fraught with problems in its execution.
The holy sites' disposition should be put to rest.
The wrench in this neat little equation is that many of the holiest places within Christendom reside in Israel - in Jerusalem, to be exact. And some of the sacred places in historical Christianity were built over earlier sites sacred to Israel. And to further complicate matters, places sacred to Islam - a late-comer in the 'Abrahamic' religions that began with the Jewish submission to monotheism, to the birth of Christianity, to that of Islam - were built over sites sacred to Judaism.
Jerusalem is the fabled city of the biblical era, ancient and revered by all three religions. When Jordan controlled the territory which included east Jerusalem, site of the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount, Jews were forbidden entry, while Christians were permitted there on sufferance and Muslims freely accessed the third-most sacred site in Islam, the Dome of the Rock, built over the Temple Mount.
In Jewish hands since 1967, Israel controls all of Jerusalem and permits respectful access to all three religions. And access to Judaism's most sacred site, the Wailing Wall, all that was left after the serial destructions of the Temple of Solomon, the Bais Hamikdosh (The Holy Temple)was finally accomplished. Under Jewish custody all religions may now access their religious sites within Jerusalem.
An uneasy reconciliation is the order of the day, with Israel treading on eggshells, conciliatorily enabling Muslims to continue their strict ownership of their holy sites, and itself taking a modest step backward with respect to its own, pre-existing sites. While on the other hand, some of Judaism's biblical holy sites are time and again vandalized by Palestinians within the Palestinian Territories.
Pope Benedict is set to visit Israel in the coming week, and to consolidate good feelings between Israel and the Vatican, there are some in the Israeli government, including the country's president, who are willing to conclude long-standing talks with the Roman Catholic Church to hand over a number of Christian holy sites unconditionally; to cede sovereignty.
Those sites are the Church of the Annunciation located in Nazareth, the Coenaculum at Mount Zion, Mount Tabor, west of the Sea of Galilee, Gethsemane, at the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, and the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fishes on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Israel has custody of all those areas and those sites, although there is a lack of international recognition of that custody.
Some sites are claimed by the Palestinian Authority as being in their custody. The Palestinian Authority insists that east Jerusalem be ceded to them, as their sovereign capital for a Palestinian state, should the two ever conclude a peace agreement leading to a two-state solution. As far as the Church is concerned, they claim: "All we are seeking are safeguards that [the sites] will not be taken away in the future", according to a source in Rome.
Obviously, on the record of past performance and obligations, that assurance is there, as long as Israel safeguards those sites. Islam is not known for its willingness to safeguard sites sacred to religions other than their own. For that matter, some of their sacred sites too, including the home of the Prophet Mohammad, have been destroyed, by Saudi Arabia, making way for architectural and civic progress. The Taliban thought nothing of destroying ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan.
Rabid Islamist fanatics think nothing of blowing their adversarial Muslim brethren to smithereens, while praying in a Shi'ite or Sunni mosque, as the case may be. Christian churches are destroyed without compunction. Israel gives full respect to sites valuable to religions other than her own. Yet during Pope Benedict's visit to Israel, Church officials have indicated they plan to demand that Israel give full control of the Coenaculum to the Vatican.
It was pointed out, logically enough, that such concessions limit the government's capacity to function with full sovereignty. On the most practical level, permission would have to be sought from the Vatican - should their demands prevail - for even municipal remedial work; repairing broken water pipes, sewage systems, roadways. Israel's relationship with the Vatican is not that of Italy's.
In fact, the Roman Catholic Church has too often been anything but supportive of Israel and of Jewish interests. Under the current pope too many occurrences have surfaced that give legitimate cause for concern. The status quo, where Israel furnishes free access and protections to religious holy sites is the correct course of action. Anything other is preposterous in its theory and fraught with problems in its execution.
The holy sites' disposition should be put to rest.
posted by Pieface | 7:35 PM
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