That dramatic � even inflammatory -- title, �Is �Palestinian-killer� the new �Christ-killer�?�, is the first question that occurred to me as I read news reports that a meeting of Catholic Bishops from the Middle East condemned Israel, called for withdrawal to 1967 borders, and that Jews have no Biblical right to Israel.
I just read the actual statement of the gathering. The initial impression I had was wrong, largely due to the poor news reporting and due to the press conference by the archbishop president of the gathering that went beyond the meeting�s report and beyond Catholic Church doctrine. Further, the report itself is not the official position of the Catholic Church. The Pope will consider it before issuing his final statement.
That impression given the world, that the Jews of Israel are, in effect, �Palestinian-killers�, consonant with the catechism of the Left in trying to delegitimize Israel�s very existence, was conveyed by the president of the gathering at a Vatican press conference:
�The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands,� Monsignor Cyril Salim Bustros, Greek Melkite archbishop of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Boston, Massachusetts, and president of the �Commission for the Message,� said at Saturday�s Vatican press conference.
�We Christians cannot speak of the �promised land� as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people � all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.
�Even if the head of the Israeli state is Jewish, the future is based on democracy.
The Palestinian refugees will eventually come back and this problem will have to be solved,� the Lebanese-born Bustros said.
The Israeli reply was sharp:
Mordechay Lewy, Israel�s ambassador to the Holy See, told The Jerusalem Post that Bustros, in saying that Jesus nullified God�s covenant with the Jewish people, was �returning to successionist theology, contradicting Second Vatican Council teaching and Pope Benedict himself � who has welcomed the return of Jews to their ancient homeland.�
�Also,� added the ambassador, �by inviting all Palestinian refugees to return and denying Israel�s right to define itself a Jewish state � the only such in the world � he is regressing to hard-line positions that deny Israel�s right to exist.�
Bustros went beyond what the Bishops� statement actually said, as the The New York Times report clarified:
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the written communiqu� was the official message of the meeting, not the remarks of Archbishop Bustros.
The communiqu� calls for a two-state solution so that the Palestinians would have �an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security,� and �the State of Israel will be able to enjoy peace and security within internationally recognized borders.�
�If you read the text of the message,� Father Lombardi said, �it�s clear, it talks about the security of Israel and the rights of Palestinians who also have a right to their state.�
The communiqu� did not say the outcome of peace would be a return to 1967 borders but to internationally recognized borders. The communiqu� did not say that �migr� Palestinians should return to within Israel. The communiqu� did not say that the Biblical covenant with Jews was defunct.
Further, Bustros� press conference comment went beyond the official position of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II strongly affirmed St. Paul in Romans 11:28-29: �On account of their fathers, this people [the Jews] remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.� In Mainz, Pope John Paul II said of the Jews, �the people of God of the Old Covenant, which has never been revoked by God.� Seems that Bustros has some explaining to do to the present Pope for not understanding the Church�s position since Pope John Paul II.
The news reporting adds its own fault to this, apparently not having bothered to read the actual communiqu�. The news reporting omitted the communiqu��s larger discussion of the parlous condition of Christians throughout the Middle East, their emigration in search of security of life and observance to escape the common repression and persecution in their homelands. Indeed, one of the primary requests for the assembly to occur came from Christians in Iraq. It could have come from Saudi Arabia, as well, if Christians were even permitted open worship there.
The Bishops, coming from the Middle East, were very careful, circumspect, and euphemistic in the language of the communiqu�, reflecting both their dangerous status as well as many�s sympathies with their Muslim societies� anti-Western populism and their own flocks� fears of frequent Islamist attacks.
Still, a few did speak more forthrightly. Two Syrian Catholic Bishops �differed significantly from most of the other synod members' speeches on dialogue with Muslims in the Middle East; the majority of synod members -- and the two Muslims Pope Benedict XVI invited to address the assembly -- focused instead on progress in understanding and cooperation.�
In his written submission, Archbishop Raboula Beylouni, who works in the Syrian Catholic curia in Lebanon, wrote that formal Catholic-Muslim dialogues are "difficult and often ineffective," partially because the Quran tells Muslims they belong to "the only true and complete religion."
Muslims, he said, come "to dialogue with a sense of superiority and with the certitude of being victorious."
In addition, the archbishop said, "The Quran allows the Muslim to hide the truth from the Christian and to speak and act contrary to how he thinks and believes."
Islam does not recognize the equality of men and women and does not recognize the right of religious freedom, he also wrote�.
Bishop Flavien Melki, also a member of the Syrian curia in Lebanon, said that at a time when "fundamentalism is becoming more entrenched in the region," the idea that dialogue could lead to Muslims accepting secular democracy "seems to be in the domain of utopia."
"Must we wait for the disappearance of Christians in the Middle East to raise our voices and speak up with force" to call for "liberty, equality and justice for these religious minorities?" Bishop Melki asked.
The bishop said Middle East Christians need the support of the international community to press for the reform of Islamic regimes in the region.
Aside from evangelical Christians in the West who do speak out for oppressed Christians in Muslim countries, the establishment Western Churches � Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist � come closer and closer to adopting the �Palestinian-killer� apostasy from truth, and risk or participate in effect in a new �Christ-killer� calumny. Leftist reporting, which
is most of it, ignores this.
