c. 1996 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Three years after the Vatican and Israel agreed to establish diplomatic relations, efforts to extend that agreement to everyday reality remain hampered by painful Jewish memories of the past and the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Arabs, a prominent Israeli rabbi and American Catholic official said Thursday (Nov. 7).

Rabbi David Rosen, who participated in the negotiations between Israel and the Vatican, said the accord itself, while historic, was only”the culmination of the beginning”of a new relationship between the Holy See and the Jewish state _ and by extension between Roman Catholics and Jews worldwide.

What is needed now, said Rosen, interfaith director for the Anti-Defamation League in Jerusalem, is a concrete agenda of goals to put aside past conflicts and current political disagreements.”Many Israeli Jews, particularly those who are most Orthodox, still think of the church as being stuck in its past anti-Semitic viewpoint,”he said.

Rosen spoke at an Israeli embassy panel discussion marking the three-year anniversary of the signing of the accord.

Signed in December 1993, and followed some six months later by the Vatican and Israel mutually extending official recognition and establishing full diplomatic relations, it has been hailed by Catholics and Jews as an important advancement between the two faiths.

The Rev. Drew Christiansen, director of the United States Catholic Conference’s office of international peace and justice, agreed with Rosen’s assessment that an”affirmative agenda is very important.” But he noted that the accord _ which had been long-sought by Jewish leaders as a sign of Catholic repudiation of past anti-Semitic teachings _ included more than diplomatic recognition and renewed Vatican condemnation of anti-Semitism.

It also included provisions calling for Israel to”maintain and respect”Christian holy sites and the right of the church to carry out”religious, moral, educational and charitable functions”and have its own institutions.

That means the needs of Roman Catholic Arabs living within Israel and the West Bank and Gaza must be considered as Israel and the church map their collective future.

Christiansen cited the Israeli government’s denial of a request to establish a Catholic-run, Arab-language radio station as an example of those needs. He also mentioned difficulties faced by teachers and students at Catholic Bethlehem University who cannot freely pass between the West Bank and Israel proper because of Israeli border closings.”The accord is better understood outside of Israel than within it,”Christiansen said.”There is a lack of awareness of the accord’s provisions among many Israeli government officials.” Some 20,000 Catholics _ most of the Arabs _ live in Israel proper. Another 10,000 reside in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition, some 50,000 Greek Melkite Catholics and smaller numbers of Syrian Catholics, Armenian Catholics, Coptic Catholics and Chaldean Catholics also live in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. All of these groups are”uniate”churches, which accept the authority of Rome.

While the accord was a breakthrough in Israeli efforts to gain wider international recognition, Christiansen also noted that it provided the Vatican with diplomatic benefits as well.

Christiansen said the accord for first time”enshrined in an international legal agreement”the religious rights of Catholics living in a non-Catholic nation.

The Vatican, he added, hopes to use the accord as a basis for reaching similar agreements with Middle East Muslim nations.

KC END RIFKIN