Hounded out of the Holy Land

CHRISTIAN pilgrims have flocked to the Holy Land this Easter weekend in greater numbers than for several years, determined not to let violence deny them the chance to retrace the path Jesus took through Jerusalem’s cobbled streets to his crucifixion.

But while the clergy has hailed the crowds of thousands as a victory for peace, they have come against the backdrop of a crisis in relations between the Israeli government, the Vatican and the wider Christian world.

Israel has refused to renew the visas of more than 100 members of the clergy and church volunteers in what the Christian churches are claiming is part of a conspiracy to reduce their numbers in order to preserve the Jewish identity of the state of Israel.

The Vatican’s representatives have told the Israeli government the situation is intolerable after a number of incidents in recent weeks in which nuns and priests have been detained and declared illegal residents after their visas have expired.

The highest-ranking Catholic patriarch in the Holy Land, Archbishop Michel Sabbah, said the very existence of the Christian community in Israel depended on the right of its clergy and volunteers to remain there, and said he knew of at least 138 who had been refused renewals.

He said: "This issue concerns the survival of the churches in Israel because it concerns the staff of the churches, clergy and even lay people who directly work for the churches."

Father Robert Fortin, a Catholic priest, said Israel’s treatment of the Christian clergy was in violation of a 1993 diplomatic accord with the Vatican, under which the Church is allowed to appoint and deploy personnel to carry out religious, educational and charitable duties in the Holy Land. "There are lots of people who have come to the conclusion that there is a desire to reduce the number of Christians in the country to reinforce the Jewish character of the state," he said.

Father David Jaeger, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Custody of the Holy Land of the Franciscan Fathers in the walled Old City, said he expected more people to be arrested. "It is insufferable," he said. "Some of the Catholic officials have lived in Israel for many years. In the Catholic world there is a growing view that Israel has deliberately framed a policy to hurt the Church. Nobody believes some clerk in the interior ministry is able to reach these decisions on his own."

It is not only the Catholic Church that feels under siege in Israel. Along with Arabs - who are faced with special security checks - many other denominations say they are in the same position. These include the Church of Scotland, which has a school in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv. Rev Clarence Musgrave, who is based at St Andrews Church in Jerusalem, said they had experienced trouble renewing visas. "I think there is a philosophical problem. The government sees itself as a government of a Jewish state. I am not sure it understands or sees what role it wants Christian communities to have."

The Lutheran World Federation has also experienced problems, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palestine, where the congregation is unable to get permits to enter Jerusalem without extensive negotiations with the Israeli authorities.

But Eli Varon, a senior adviser to the Israeli interior minister, said the government was aware of the problem and the issue was being given serious attention. "We will soon bring this matter to a satisfactory solution," he said. Varon gave the assurance after his minister, Avraham Poraz, issued a request to the immigration police not to arrest Christian clergy in Israel, even if they do not possess the required residency documents.

But the Vatican’s most senior diplomat in the Holy Land, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, said this was not good enough. "The religious personnel feel hurt," he said. "The question is not to arrest them, the question is to put them in a legal situation, granting them the resident visas in Israel."

Israeli officials have dismissed claims of a conspiracy as nonsense. The head of the Israeli foreign affairs ministry’s religions department, Gadi Golan, said the matter had reached the desk of prime minister Ariel Sharon, who had called for the National Security Council to clear up any confusion over visa extensions.

But is unclear how much attention Sharon can give to the issue. This week he heads to Washington for a crucial meeting with President George Bush to map out a new course for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sharon is seeking Bush’s support for a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The Israeli leader says there is no alternative to such a move in the absence of any peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

He is looking for US guarantees that will help him win a referendum of his ruling Likud party on the plan - scheduled to take place later this month.