Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June 2000, pages 65-66

Bethlehem Bulletin

Colloquium of Christian Church Leaders in Jerusalem Assesses Growing Ecumenical Movement

By Sr. Elaine Kelley

The Swedish Christian Study Center in Jerusalem hosted a colloquium April 7 to assess recent progress in building an ecumenical movement within the Christian churches of the Holy Land. “The New Millennium: the Past Meets the Future in Jerusalem” featured three presentations by representatives of organizations in the forefront of the Christian ecumenical movement. They were Fr. Frans Bouwen, a member of the White Fathers in Jerusalem who is president of the Commission for Justice and Peace and editor of Prèche Orient Chrétien; Dr. Harry Hagopian, an attorney and the executive director of the Middle East Council of Churches and the convenor for the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee; and Fr. Robert Fortin, general secretary of the Roman Catholic Jubilee 2000 Committee in Jerusalem.

The colloquium, which followed a February inter-church Synod held in Bethlehem, a local Sabeel conference in March, and a high-level ecumenical meeting of church leaders with Pope John Paul II on March 25, all addressing ecumenism in the Holy Land, attracted a number of high-ranking church officials, including Roman Catholic Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Pietro Sambi and Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem Abuna Gabriel, as well as laity involved in the ecumenical movement such as Jack Khazmo of the bi-monthly pro-Fatah magazine, Al Bayader al Siyasi.

White Father Frans Bouwen opened with a brief history of the ecumenical movement in the Holy Land, which he described as “this small little spot where everything happened.” Pointing to its “richness of diversity,” Bouwen stated that “diversity has become division” in the Holy Land. He said that the divisions, however, originated some place else and were “brought here,” and that “all churches in the world are responsible for these divisions.”

Recounting the “long troubled history” of the country, Bouwen described the two primary obstacles in inter-church relations, the “long period of conflict here” and the “creation of new church communities in the second half of the 19th century.” He mentioned recent changes toward an emphasis on cooperation within the church communities which he said began with the joint project of the restoration of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Bouwen said that the second difficulty started when Western church missions arrived with various new theologies, and that “instead of helping the local church from within [they] created new communities and churches.”

Local Christians became members of the new churches, opening wounds and creating competition among the churches. He said the recent visit of Pope John Paul II to the Holy Land was “an opportunity for discussion.”

Fr. Robert Fortin described projects undertaken by his office and the guiding principles of ecumenical cooperation. Fortin, an Assumptionist priest who is also rector of St. Peter in Gallicantu in Jerusalem, said that the Conference of Catholic Bishops created the Jubilee 2000 project for the purpose of “breaking down barriers within churches” and to “assure the active participation of the Christians of the Holy Land” in Jubilee events. He said efforts such as the Synod in Bethlehem have resulted in progress, and referred to the historical difficulties in implementing inter-ritual celebrations, pointing out that language and space limitations added to the difficulty in achieving a “common pastoral approach” to celebrations.

Fr. Fortin included the “unsettled peace process” as a “stumbling block” to attaining a coherent pastoral plan among the churches. He said another problem is that the main holy sites still are governed by a “complicated status-quo” system with its “engendered fear of losing acquired rights.”

However, he said, the Dec. 4 inter-church inauguration of Bethlehem 2000, in which all the traditional churches participated and prayed together publicly, was a major step. The pope’s subsequent visit was the “highlight of the year” that “encouraged local Christians” by reaffirming the church’s commitment to the Palestinian people and also “helped relations with the Jews,” Fortin said.

He concluded by stating that “there is no turning back” and that in the Holy Land “ecumenism is getting a new lease on life.”

“We live in a land of subtle interpretation,” said Dr. Harry Hagopian, executive director of the Middle East Council of Churches, which has been a meeting place for the indigenous churches of the region since 1974. Hagopian said he was “quite willing to affirm the great progress that has been achieved,” pointing to the regular meetings among heads of churches, the “serious agendas” of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and its publication last year of an ecumenical calendar for all major Christian feasts, and what he called the “galvanizing range of Christ-centered activities.”

“What would have been impossible 20 years ago is almost possible today,” Dr. Hagopian stated. He asked those in attendance to consider where communication actually takes place among the three distinct categories of Christian society in Jerusalem, which are the church hierarchy, the church-related organizations and the “ever-dwindling” Christian grassroots.

He said that “serious divisions” remain in spite of enormous strides and are expressed in the competition for programs, funds and visibility. “The lack of [a Christian] identity,” he said, is a challenge to the hierarchy and needs to be addressed. “I believe that identity is quite nebulous, vague,” he said.

Hagopian, an Armenien, related a personal experience as an illustration of the significance of “identity” in the local culture. He said that when he came back to Jerusalem three years ago he described himself to a group in this same room as “a lay Armenian lawyer.” Someone then asked him, “But what is your faith identity?” When he answered, “I’m Christian,” he was questioned further: “What kind of Christian?” He answered, “A believing Christian.” He said this had been an important lesson for him at the outset on the value people here place on religious identity.

Following the presentations there was a question-and-answer period and a discussion which included an explanation by Jack Khazmo of Palestinian Authority efforts to standardize religion curricula for all private and public schools in the Palestinian areas. Khazmo said that two committees were working on the curriculum and that a “future Palestinian state [will] make sure that pluralism is reflected within the constitution.”

The Swedish Christian Study Center, located inside Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, is an organization representing over 40 Protestant and Orthodox churches and ecumenical Christian organizations. The center offers pilgrim group services, adult education programs, public lectures and conferences, and a library focusing on church history, the three faith traditions, and the role of religion in society.

Um Jihad Participates in Palestinian Prisoners Day Celebrations at Bethlehem University

PA Minister of Social Affairs Intisar Al-Wazir, better known as Um Jihad, the widow of slain Fatah military leader Khalil Al Wazir, visited the campus of Bethlehem University on April 14 to commemorate Palestinian Prisoners Day on April 17 and to remember Palestinian martyrs. Her visit was part of a week of activities throughout the West Bank and Gaza organized by Fatah. Abu Jihad, the second highest-ranking leader of Fatah after Arafat, was assassinated by Israeli commandos in Tunis in 1988.

Um Jihad participated in a campus rally organized by members of the BU Fatah youth movement (Shabiba in Arabic) who invited her. The welcoming committee included sophomore Raneem Jalajel and BU Executive Vice President Manuel Hassassian.

Marching bands and students dressed in traditional mourning black for the occasion welcomed Um Jihad as she entered the campus, which had been decorated in honor of her visit. Along with two of her grandchildren, Um Jihad toured the campus and participated in a prayer ceremony at the Martyrs Memorial, where her granddaughters placed wreaths and plaques to honor the four BU student martyrs in the fight for Palestinian self-determination: Taghreed Al Butmeh, killed in 1980, Ishaq Abu Srour, killed in 1987, Anton Shomaly, killed in 1992, and Mohammed Abu Srour, killed in 1996. The PA official also attended other events in Bethlehem and Jerusalem during the week in honor of her late husband.

Sr. Elaine Kelley is a development officer at Bethlehem University.