The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,
Mgr. Fouad Twal, gave a speech yesterday to greet the bishops of Europe
and North America during their annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land,
during which he spoke of Christian concern for the growth of two forms
of religious extremism: Islamic and Israeli right wing fundamentalism.
Patriarch Twal recalled the Synod for the Middle East, held last October
in the Vatican, which concluded in its final proposals: "the attention
of the whole world should be focused on the tragic situation of certain
Christian communities of the Middle East, which suffer all manner of
trials sometimes even to the point of martyrdom."
The Latin Patriarch said that "painful experience caused us to write these words. They
turned out to be a prophecy as well, when we think about the situation
in Baghdad and Egypt.
" He added: "I confess that our people lost
credibility in speeches and visits of vip political and religious
personalities. They need to see concrete steps on the ground, for more
justice and peace and dignity. They need us to be more involved. We
are still anxious from the two extremisms: The Muslim one with his
attacks against our churches and our faithful, and the Israeli right
wing, invading more and more Jerusalem, trying to transform it to an
only Hebrew –Jewish city, excluding the other faiths".
Meanwhile, the religious tensions in Jerusalem are still very
strong.
The Al-Aqsa foundation "denounces the vandalization of 20 Muslim
graves in the historic cemetery in Mamilla, in West Jerusalem, which
occurred on the night of January 10.
The foundation points to Jewish
extremists.
The Mamilla cemetery is very old, some date it back to the
seventh century of the Christian era and claim that some companions of
the Prophet Muhammad were buried there, along with thousands of Sufis,
scholars and notable families of Jerusalem.
SIC: AN/INT'L