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A cry from Bethlehem to Bethlehem By Mokesh Morar
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OURISM representatives from Bethlehem in the West Bank came to Bethlehem in the Free State to encourage pilgrims to the Holy Land to meet with Palestinian Christians. Remi Kassi of the Alternative Tourism Group, a Palestinian non-governmental organisation, assured his audiences in Bethlehem and in Bohlokong, Clarens, Senekal and Bloemfontein, that it is safe to visit the Holy Land. “As pilgrims and tourists you are free to travel anywhere. In fact, you have more rights in terms of travelling than we [Palestinians] have.” Mr Kassi explained Palestinians are required to always carry on them their ID and passport, of which there are different categories. “The two of us, for instance, cannot visit Jerusalem, even though Bethlehem is very close. Due to the severe [travel] restrictions, it is easier for families from Gaza and the West Bank to meet in South Africa than it is to meet in Palestine.” He said that pilgrimages or tourist trips to the Holy Land should be planned carefully, warning that Israeli tour operators often bypass or restrict visits to holy sites in areas populated by Palestinians. “When you return to your home country, share your experience and invite others for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Come and see the holy sites, walk where Jesus walked, but also look and look critically with the eyes of Jesus,” Mr Kassi said. He said the Alternative Tourism Group (www.atg.ps) can arrange for visitors to stay with Palestinians families “to experience what is it like for ordinary people to get to know each other”. South Africans can obtain a three-month visa at Tel Aviv airport. “As long as you do not mention that you come to support the Palestine cause openly, you are totally accepted by the Israeli government and state,” Mr Kassi said. Mr Kassi also talked about the conditions under which he and other Palestinians live. “When we go on a family holiday, there are over 250 checkpoints, and some of them just 20m apart. Each time we are forced to
stop, present documents and be searched. It’s a nightmare and so we stop traveling,” he said. “My children keep on asking: ‘Why are we treated like this in our own country?’” He said that since Israel built the 700km security barrier, which in many places, including Bethlehem, is a 8m high concrete wall, families have been separated. “They find it hard to visit each other due to the daily harassment by Israeli security forces and the Israeli settlers. The latter are people—some claim to be Jews from America, Russia and Europe—who have more rights than Palestinians. We have lived here since time immemorial, and until recently we lived in peace with Jews, Muslims and others. These settlers come and build their house on top of those of the Palestinians”. He recounted how the Israeli government had welded shut the front doors of some houses occupied by Palestinians. “People, the elderly and the sick, are forced to enter their houses through windows, using ladders, or via their neighbours’ roof tops,” Mr Kassi said. “Life is made unbearable, and that is why more and more Christians are leaving Bethlehem and the Holy Land. The illegal occupation of Palestine has been continuing and the international community hardly pays attention to the suffering, including the cry of children for a normal life,” he said. The visit was organised by Sekwele Centre for Social Reflection in Bethlehem and Kairos Southern Africa. Meanwhile, a group of Christians issued what they termed the “Bethlehem Declaration”, expressing their “sympathy for all the suffering, especially by innocent women and children, as well as our wishes of solidarity for all the people of Palestine and Israel”. The declaration supported Israel’s right to exist, but also recognised the right of Palestine “to be a sovereign and independent nation, living side by side in peace and justice with Israel.” Last month Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations to accept Palestine as a member state. The United States have indicated they would veto an approval of the application.
a statue of Pope John Paul II, which was created by sculptress elisabeth Cibot, is seen in front of the basilica of Notre-Dame de fourviere in lyon, france. (Photo: robert Pratta, reuters/CNs)
London house named after Hurley sTaff rePorTer
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UMBER 14, Quex Road, London NW6 is now known as “Denis Hurley House”, after the late archbishop of Durban. The naming ceremony was part of a “Service of Blessing” led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, retired of Westminster, and Fr William Fitzpatrick, the English provincial of the late archbishop’s order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Bishop David Konstant, retired of Leeds, and Fr Stephen Tully, administrator of Durban’s Emmanuel cathedral, assisted. The terrace house in the north London suburb of Kilburn is the home of the
Oblates’ “Partners in Mission” programme, which seeks to draw young people into action for justice and peace in the service of the poor. Soon the Denis Hurley Association, which is currently being set up in Britain as a charitable trust to raise funds for the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, will be based there too. The naming ceremony noted that “Archbishop Hurley was an influential father of the Second Vatican Council, a distinguished liturgist, a committed opponent of the apartheid system, a dedicated prophet of justice and reconciliation in his native South Africa and a revered pastor in the province of KwaZulu-Natal”.
Bishop hopes pope will let him run for president By Paul Jeffrey
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HE “Red Bishop” of Honduras says he will run for president of the Central American nation, if he gets permission from Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Luis Santos Villeda of Santa Rosa de Copán (pictured) will celebrate his 75th birthday in November and will immediately submit his resignation to the Vatican, as required by canon law. Once his resignation is accepted and he is freed from the responsibilities of bishop, Bishop Santos says, he will run for president as a candidate of a progressive faction of the Liberal Party, whose last president, Manuel Zelaya, was deposed in a 2009 coup. “I don’t aspire to be president of Honduras. This isn’t my idea,” Bishop Santos told Catholic News Service. He said he was first asked by Liberal Party leaders in the 1990s, and
again in 2009, to become a candidate, but both times he declined. “But now that I’m retiring as bishop, I hope to speak with the pope and get his permission. I would no longer be bishop or have any Church office, but would remain a priest. I could celebrate Mass privately in the morning before showing up in the presidential office at 8am,” Bishop Santos said. The bishop has long been a public supporter of the Liberal Party, whose red flag contributed to his nickname. He was also a strident opponent of the 2009 coup, a position that put him at odds with Tegucigalpa Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, who backed the coup. Analysts say the cardinal’s support for the coup cost him political capital; the cardinal is seen much less often in public these days. Bishop Santos, on the other hand, remains highly visible, despite his
remote western diocese, which includes some of the poorest communities in Central America. He has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Resistance, the loose-knit coalition of civil groups opposing the government since the coup. However, not everyone would be
pleased with a Bishop Santos candidacy. “The decision of the bishop to get involved in politics after stepping down as bishop does damage to the Church and damage to politics,” said Jesuit Father Ismael Moreno, director of Radio Progreso, a station closely identified with the Honduran left. “Politics here is historically closely linked to clericalism. So when a bishop or priest decides to participate in partisan politics, that doesn’t help us move toward a political culture of citizenship,” said Fr Moreno. “And it would damage the Church because he’s not a bishop of unity, rather, he has fostered confrontation. So it would divide Catholics even more than they’re divided now, and not in the name of the struggle of the poor, but rather in the name of party politics. Bishop Santos rejects the notion that Church leaders should remain
outside partisan politics. “Why do I get involved in politics? Because it is politics that has screwed the poor,” the bishop said. He said “it’s politics that makes people poor, that leaves the clinics and hospitals without medicine, that robs money from the villages. It’s politics that supports the rampant corruption in Honduras. As a bishop, I can’t be disinterested in the health and education of the children, the least of my sisters and brothers,” Bishop Santos said. “This is a rich country, with productive land. But there’s a lot of injustice,” he said. Bishop Santos said he has no interest in modeling his possible presidency after that of Fernando Lugo, the Paraguayan bishopturned-president, “because he gave up everything. He left the ministry behind and was elected as a layperson. I’m going to remain a priest, but without any position within the Church.”—CNS