Ha'aretz - Tel Aviv - 10/27/98
By Joseph Algazy, Ha'aretz Correspondent
The Holy See believes Jerusalem should by protected by "a special internationally guaranteed statute," Monsignor Jean Louis
Tauran announced yesterday. Tauran, who is responsible for the Vatican's foreign policy, issued the statement at the opening of a
world conference of bishops meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the city's future.
The conference, hosted by Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Michel Sabah, has attracted numerous foreign Catholic dignitaries, including
Maruslav Cardinal Volk, who heads the Council of European Bishops, and Bernard Cardinal Law, the deputy head of the Council of
American Bishops.
Tauran wrote that "the distinction often made between 'the question of the Holy Places' and 'the question of Jerusalem' is
unacceptable to the Holy See." The prevailing situation in the holy city was reached by force, he said, and is preserved by force.
"Since 1967, a part of the city has been occupied militarily and subsequently annexed," he wrote. "In that part of the city are to be
found most of the holy places of the three monotheistic religions."
"East Jerusalem is illegally occupied. It is therefore wrong to claim that the Holy See is only interested in the religious aspect or
aspects of the city and overlooks the political and territorial aspect. The Holy See is indeed interested in this aspect and has the
right and duty to be, especially insofar as the matter remains unresolved and is the cause of conflict, injustice, human rights
violations, restrictions of religious freedom and conscience, fear and personal insecurity."
The Holy See "has the right and duty of reminding the parties of the obligation to resolve controversies peacefully, in accordance
with the principles of justice and equity within the international legal framework," Tauran wrote. Still, he maintained, "there is nothing
to prevent Jerusalem, in its unity and uniqueness, from becoming the symbol and the national center of both the peoples that claim
it as their capital. But if Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, it is also sacred to many people from every part of
the world who look to it as their spiritual capital or travel there on pilgrimage, to pray and to meet their brethren in faith."
The Vatican expressed the conviction that "there is an obligation to find a realistic solution to the problems of Jerusalem, to all of
them, according to their particular characteristics," and the hope that "the aspirations for dialogue and peace will contribute to the
implementation of what has been agreed upon" at the Wye Plantation talks.
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