Fists and accusations of misconduct flew in the headquarters of the diocese of Jerusalem last week, as the opera buffa war between the current and former bishops escalated into a brawl that required police intervention.On Dec 4 the wife of former Bishop Riah Abu al-Assal, Mrs Suad Abu al-Assal visited the diocesan office to collect her husband’s pension.
Accounts diverge sharply as to what happened next, however relations between the two bishops have been poor since Bishop Dawani’s election in 2006.
Upon retirement in March 2007 Bishop al-Assal sought to keep the diocesan school in Nazareth, claiming it was his personal property. The dispute wound up in court and in January 2008, a judge ordered Bishop al-Assal to turn over control of the property to the diocese and provide an accounting of funds.
In a statement released by her daughter, Mrs al-Assal became “aware of the sneaky and humiliating way of handling the payment” of the pension and “simply announced that she will wait for as long as need be until they fulfill their promise to her.”
Her decision to wait until the money was paid over prompted two assistants of the current bishop, Suheil Dawani to start “pushing her, dragging and fighting with her, until she fell flat on the floor resisting their attempt to pull her outside,” she claimed.
Mrs al-Assal’s daughter wrote: “Suad cried for help --- having noticed Bishop Suheil go into his office --- but there was no help!! Neither her cries, her tears, nor the bruises on her face and on her neck, were enough to draw the attention of any. The drama continues; the actors change: one washed his hands, the others stood afar, watching her being brutally and barbarically attacked.”
A statement released by Bishop Dawani’s office reported a different chain of events.
Mrs al-Assal made two visits to the diocesan office on Dec 4. “The first visit was uneventful, but upon her return 10 minutes later and upon not receiving the response she had hoped for in her return visit, she went into a uncontrollable tirade causing destruction to office furnishings, hurling verbal assaults and inflicting physical damage to staff trying to restrain her, culminating in the police being called in to calm the situation.
“Bishop al-Assal who arrived in the midst of the situation appeared either unwilling or unable to restrain his wife,” the diocese said.
Mrs al-Assal said she had filed a complaint with the police and provided photographs to ReligiousIntelligence.com and other church press outlets documenting her bruises. Bishop Dawani’s office reported that he “declined to press charges out of respect for the office held by his predecessor,” while a staffer who witnessed the contretemps said Mrs al-Assal’s account was not entirely straightforward and that the alleged bruises shown in the photographs were not inflicted at the diocesan office.
Yesterday Bishop Dawani confirmed that members of his staff were launching legal action against Mrs al-Assal
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(Source: RI)