A Catholic synod called at
the Vatican to address the rising persecution of Christian in the Middle
East wrapped up on Saturday with a joint statement that focused a lot
of attention on demanding Israel end its “occupation” of Arab lands.
The gathering was meant to address the various acts of persecution,
intimidation and discrimination that are resulting in a severe dwindling
of Christian communities across the region.
But the bulk of the two-week meeting was spent discussing how Israel
is the root cause of all the Middle East’s woes, including those faced
by its Christians.
The final statement reflected that position. It listed the
“occupation” of Arab lands, the building of Israel’s security barrier,
military checkpoints, the jailing of terrorists (defined in the
statement as “political prisoners”) and the general disruption of
Palestinian life as some of the main reasons behind the exodus of
Palestinian Christians and Muslim attacks on the Jewish state.
Cyril Salim Bustros, the Lebanon-born Greek archbishop of Our Lady of
the Annunciation in Boston, Massachusetts was responsible for
delivering the final statement.
In clarifying remarks, he stated that “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.”
He then escalated the situation by declaring that the original
promises made by God to the children of Israel “were nullified by
Christ. There is no longer a chosen people.”
Bustros rejected the idea of Israel as “the Jewish state,” and
insisted that eventually all the so-called “Palestinian refugees” must
return to the land, a sure recipe for the demographic destruction of the
world’s only Jewish nation-state.
Mordechai Levi, Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, decried Bustros’
comments and the damage they had done to strengthening ties between
Israel and the Church.
The Catholic Church has for years been trying to repair its image as
an institution steeped in anti-Semitism.
But Bustros’ remarks make
fairly clear that the Vatican remains as dedicated as ever to
replacement theology - that teaching that says God has tossed aside the
Jews, despite is irrevocable promises to them, and that “the Church” has
instead inherited those promises.
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