How can Christians around the world provide more effective, practical support for
the struggling Christian communities of the Holy Land? That was the question that
dominated the second day of an international conference at Lambeth Palace in London
on Tuesday, jointly organised by the Anglican and Catholic Churches in England and
Wales. The meeting brought religious and political leaders from Europe and the United
States together with Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives to discuss the pivotal
role of the Christian communities throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, French Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran represented the Holy See at the conference – he told Philippa Hitchen
he was greatly encouraged by the positive and hopeful voices of young Palestinians
and Israelis attending the two day meeting…
Listen:
"I must tell
you I’ve been very positively surprised here by the interventions of young Israelis
and Palestinians and I’ve admired their courage, balance and analysis of the situation.
But we must give our Christian brothers and sisters the tools of survival, that is
decent education, decent housing and a job. It’s important that at the end of this
conference practical steps must be foreseen in order to encourage people to remain
on the spot."
What else can you do to support these young people?
"At
a diplomatic level, to be more outspoken about the situation of these communities
because sometimes, especially where you have a country divided by a wall, separation
begets ignorance, ignorance begets frustration and frustration begets violence. So
it’s very important that the walls disappear, not only physically speaking, but psychologically
and culturally speaking, in order that people meet and realise they are sons of the
same God."
Could you or the Holy See in general be more outspoken on these
issues?
"The Holy See is outspoken as regards this issue – this morning I was
referring to Pope Benedict XVI’s speech at Tel Aviv airport in May 2009 at the end
of his pilgrimage and I think this is a fundamental speech to understand his position
about the Middle East."
How do you hope to follow up on the positive commitments
you’ve been hearing?
"I think we must arrange for our engagement in education,
for example Bethlehem University - schools and universities and hospitals are the
three structures through which we can help people to survive and to look to the future
with much more confidence."
How important is this ecumenical initiative, do
you think?
"I think it is a marvellous testimony to this climate, a very positive
one, that we find in England, due I think to the personality of the Archbishop of
Canterbury who is a remarkable man. We find also in the two last Archbishops of Westminster
prelates who are perfectly aware that in today’s world we must announce Christ - in
spite of our divisions - with one voice, because we are living in a society that is
not built only without God but sometimes against God, so it’s important that Christians
speak with one voice."