MEET THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF SOUTHWARK ARCHBISHOP PETER SMITH ON RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS AFTER 30 YEARS PAGE 7

No. 6459

www.catholicherald.co.uk June 11 2010 £1.20 (Republic of Ireland €1.70)

Time to stop the Christian exodus from the Middle East, says Vatican

BY ED WEST

THE PLIGHT OF Christians in the Middle East is threatened by an “extremist current” of “political Islam” and is being ignored by the world, the Pope has said ahead of a new Vatican report.

In a working paper released during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cyprus, to prepare for a crisis summit of Middle East bishops in Rome in October, the Church cited Islamic fundamentalism as a major threat to Christians in the cradle of Christianity.

The Synod, the working paper said, would aim to “help to focus the attention of the international community on the plight of those Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs. Often times, relations between Christians and Muslims are difficult, principally because Muslims [make] no distinction between religion and politics, thereby relegating Christians to the precarious position of being considered noncitizens... The key to harmonious living between Christians and Muslims is to recognise religious freedom and human rights.”

The document said the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and political instability in Lebanon, where Christians are now barely a quarter of the population, have forced thousands to flee the region.

In his final Mass in Cyprus on Sunday Benedict XVI said he was praying that the meeting would focus the attention of the international community “on the plight of those Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs”.

The Vatican estimates there are about 17 million Christians in the region, and although new Catholic immigrants from the Philippines and South Asia have settled in the Gulf, the native Christian populations has declined.

In Lebanon, which was over 70 per cent Christian at the time of its creation by the French in 1926, Christians account for between 25 and 40 per cent of the population, and have declined because of higher emigration levels and

Pope Benedict walks in the UN-controlled area dividing the capital of Cyprus before celebrating Mass in the Church of the Holy Cross AP Photo lower birth rates. Egypt’s large Coptic population suffers official discrimination from the government and terrorist attacks from Islamic extremists. Palestinian Christians have declined to barely two per cent of the population, down from 15 per cent at the time of Israel’s creation. But the most immediately threatened population are Iraq’s Christians, half of whom have fled since the 2003 invasion, driven out by sectarian attacks, the most recent of which was a bus bombing in Mosul.

The Pope symbolically delivered the document at the end of a Mass during his visit to Cyprus last weekend. The working paper, known in Latin as an Instrumentum Laboris, will be the basis for two weeks of discussions.

The 46-page document said clerics in the region blamed the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories for inhibiting freedom of movement, the economy and religious life, alleging that access to holy places is dependent on military permission that is sometimes denied on security grounds. “For decades, the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict, disregard for international law, the selfishness of great powers and the lack of respect for human rights have disrupted the stability of the region and subjected entire populations to a level of violence which tempts them to despair,”

the document said. The Vatican backs a Palestinian homeland alongside Israel but its relations with the Jewish state have been strained. It said: “The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is creating difficulties in everyday life,” including restrictions on access to holy places. Because of security restrictions it can take Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, hours to travel distances that should take minutes. In particular the Church is worried that the conditions suffered by Palestinians were fuelling radicalisation across the region, and encouraging further emigration to the West.

The document said: “Today, emigration is particularly prevalent because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resulting instability throughout the region.”

It said the situation for Christians in the Middle East had been exacerbated by the menacing social situation in Iraq “where the war has unleashed evil forces”.

It also complained that some Christian fundamentalists use biblical texts to justify Israel’s occupation, “making the position of Christian Arabs an even more sensitive issue”. Some extreme evangelical Protestants believe that the Jews must all return to Israel for the Rapture to begin.

A further exodus of Christians from the Holy Land would be a great loss to the Church in the “very place where [Christianity] was born”, it said. “International politics often pays no attention to the existence of Christians and the fact that they are victims, at times the first to suffer, goes unnoticed.”

The document lamented that with the exception of Turkey, in countries with a Muslim majority Islam is generally the religion of the state and the principal source of legislation, inspired by sharia, or Islamic law.

“In some countries, the state is Islamic and sharia is applied in not only private life but also society, even for non-Muslims, with the consequent deprivation of human rights. Islamic states generally do not recognise religious freedom and freedom of conscience,” the statement said. It said that Middle Eastern countries often identity Christianity with the West, and that with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism “attacks against Christians are increasing almost everywhere”.

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BY SIMON CALDWELL

POPE BENEDICT XVI has upbraided Cardinal Christoph Schönborn for the second time in six months, Italian media have claimed.

The Pontiff has written to the Archbishop of Vienna over comments to journalists in which he accused a Vatican cardinal of impeding a sex abuse investigation, according to Il Foglio newspaper.

Cardinal Schönborn had said that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, had blocked an investigation into allegations against his predecessor, Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, who stepped down in 1995.

He also said Cardinal Sodano had offended abuse victims by referring to media attacks on the Pope’s conduct as “petty gossip”.

The Pope told Cardinal Schönborn he was “stunned” by his remarks, Il Foglio said.

In January the Pope summoned Cardinal Schönborn to explain why he offered public support to the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje in spite of the insistence of local Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar that the claims of the six seers were false. Hours later the cardinal faxed a letter to Bishop Peric to express his “regret” that the bishop felt he had done “a disservice to peace”.

The suggestion of a new rift between the Vatican and Cardinal Schönborn comes weeks after he caused a stir by saying priestly celibacy must be reviewed as part of reforms to protect children from abusive clerics.

Cardinal Schönborn has also recently angered the Vatican by saying that the Church needed to reconsider its position toward remarried divorced Catholics, who are not allowed to take Communion, and toward gay people in stable relationships.

Last week Profil, an Austrian magazine, revealed that the cardinal would attend neither a meeting this week of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he is a member, nor the closing events of the Year for Priests.

Pope’s life inspires Rome stage musical

Italian tenor thanks mother for gift of life

BY DAVID V BARRETT

JOHN PAUL II: the Musical – it’s an unlikely concept, but it’s taking to the stage in Rome next week.

The musical is entitled Be Not Afraid, “one of the emblematic phrases of his papacy”, according to its writer Fr Giuseppe Spedicato. “This is a man who changed the history of the Church, and of the world,” he said.

The musical’s song and dance routines cover key aspects of the late pope’s life, including his youth under the Nazi occupation of his native Poland, his love of football and the day in 1981 when he was shot in the stomach by a Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, as he was driven in his popemobile through St Peter’s Square. “We’ve been told there will be cardinals and monsignors in the audience and we’re hoping that Pope Benedict XVI will come and see it too. We’re a bit nervous about how they might react,” said director Gianluca Ferrato.

BY SIMON CALDWELL

ANDREA BOCELLI, the blind opera singer, has praised his mother for rejecting the advice of doctors to abort him on the grounds he would be disabled.

The Italian tenor, who has sold 70 million records worldwide, paid tribute to his mother, Edi, for persevering in her pregnancy.

“They told her it was the best sol u t i o n because the baby would be born with some disability... maybe I’m partisan, but I can say that it was the right choice and I hope that this could encourage many mothers who sometimes might find themselves in difficult situations but want to save the life of their baby.” Bocelli, 51, did not say why his mother was offered an abortion at a time when it was illegal.

DON’T MISS: PATRICK WEST ON FOOTBALL AND FAITH PAGE 9