Pope's meeting in the Upper Room brings Vatican-Israeli property and taxation dispute to the fore

For Israel And Vatican, A Taxing Issue The Jewish Week May 13, 2009. Michelle Chabin provides a helpful look at the issues involving taxation and jurisdictional matters related to church property that have plagued relations between the Vatican and Israel for years:

“There is a lot of misinformation and I’d like to explain the principles,” Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told The Jewish Week at the City Hall press center set up for the pope’s visit. According to Palmor, there are three issues in play.

“The first relates to a tax exemption for church institutions, such as churches, monasteries, schools, abbeys. The second, which is unrelated to the first, relates to immunity from expropriation. In other words, the church wants a guarantee that its property cannot be taken to build a road, for example.”

The third issue relates to the Room of the Last Supper, which Catholics call the Cenacle. “The Catholic Church has requested private ownership of the church,” a potentially inflammatory move considering that Muslims consider the site holy and many Jews believe King David is buried in a tomb beneath the Cenacle.

Unlike the first two matters, “the Cenacle is not under negotiation,” Palmor emphasized. “The Israeli government has not accepted the church’s request and it remains the property of the Israeli government.”

Whether or how much to tax property owned by the Catholic Church is the thornier of the two outstanding matters because it means a loss of tax revenues (millions of shekels) and second, because it could set a precedent for other denominations and religions, according to an official who requested anonymity. [More]

Investigating the topic, AsiaNews.it interviews Fr David-Maria A. Jaeger, a legal expert with the Franciscan order and authority on State-Church relations in the Holy Land:

The Holy Father's pilgrimage to the Cenacle on Mount Zion, the Shrine of the Last Supper, inevitably is also a reminder of the anomaly of the present situation of this Holy Place of the Institution of the Mass and the Coming down of the Holy Spirit, which could therefore be called the Birth-place of the Church.

It became the property of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land—indeed its mother-house—in the fourteenth century, a gift of the King and Queen of Naples, with the special blessing and approval of the Pope. Two centuries later though, the Ottoman rulers of Jerusalem at that time expelled the Franciscans by force, and now it is in the hands of the government of Israel.

The Franciscan Custody, however, has never relinquished its right of property in the Holy Place, and has all these centuries demanded its restitution, as it still does. It has done so in the name of the whole world-wide Catholic Church, which—by Papal mandate—the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land represents at this and other Holy Places. As an enduring sign of never acquiescing in the unjust results of the violent expulsion, the principal and original title of the Custos of the Holy Land remains forever that of ‘Guardian of the Holy Mount Zion’, as is evidenced by his seal. [More

Fr. Jaegar was also interviewed for the Jewish Week article cited above.

It's a complex dispute and honestly, I can comprehend and sympathize with both parties. For example, one implication that warrants further consideration is how transfer of ownership of the Cenacle and tax-exempt status -- such as we have in the United States -- to properties held by the Catholic Church in Israel will affect ecumenical relations with other churches and relations with Muslims and other religions.

On a related note: "Status Quo" Governs Holy Land Churches (Vatican Radio):

During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the Pope will visit several Holy Sites which are used by the Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christian Churches.

The complex relationship which exists in these Churches has not always been friendly, and in the 19th century the Ottoman Empire established what is known as the Status Quo – which has governed these Holy Sites under the rule of successive regimes.

To find out more, and to find out how this Status Quo affects the Pope’s visit, Vatican Radio spoke to Franciscan Father Athanasius Macora

Related

• Mount Zion. The Cenacle and St. Peter in Gallicantu - November 24, 2003 Studium Biblicum Franciscum. Faculty of Biblical Sciences & Archeology.

Disputes over sovereignty of Christian holy sites continue?

Israeli President Shimon Peres has suggested that Israel give up sovereignty of Christian holy sites to the Vatican, according to a report on the Israeli Army Radio (Christianity Today, May 5, 2009):

According to the report the President is urging the government to give control of six key sites to the Vatican, including the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Coenaculum on Mount Zion and the Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and the Church of the Multiplication on the Kinneret.

However, the plan is reportedly being opposed by the Israeli Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, whose department reportedly refused to sign documents on Sunday handing over sovereignty to the Vatican.

Yishai was quoted as saying, "Every concession like this limits the Israeli government's ability to function as a sovereign government in the area … I am certain that the aim of the pope's visit [from 11-15 May] is not to cause damage, and not to gain sovereignty," reports the Jerusalem Post.

Related

• Property disputes dog Vatican-Israel ties Associated Press. May 6, 2009:

  Israeli and Vatican lawyers have been disputing ownership of land occupied by a Catholic charity in Jerusalem for 35 years -- just one of many longstanding property issues that form an uneasy backdrop to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel next week.

UPDATE!

Catholic News Service reports that Israeli and Vatican officials denied reports that Israeli President Shimon Peres had asked the government to relinquish sovereignty over several holy places as a gesture of good will for Pope Benedict XVI:

"What was published was taken out of context," a spokeswoman for the president's office said May 6. "The Israeli media published it as if the president was asking to give up sovereignty over holy sites, and there is a great distance between that and the reality."

The spokeswoman said Israel already has pledged to the Vatican that it will not confiscate land around six Christian sites for any sort of national development purpose such as the widening of roads. She said Peres had asked the ministries, as a gesture of good will before the pope's May 8-15 trip to the Holy Land, to confirm the pledge and to speed up the negotiations.

Meeting of the Israel-Vatican Bilateral Commission held in Jerusalem

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs updates us on the meeting of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the State of Israel and the Holy See held at the MFA in Jerusalem:

The Israel-Vatican Working Commission convened today in Jerusalem (April 30), for the first time headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, with the aim of advancing the economic agreement between Israel and the Vatican. The meeting, with the participation of Monsignor Pietro Parolin, Undersecretary for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State at the Vatican, was held in a good atmosphere, and both sides agreed to continue to work together.

Significant progress was made in the talks, and it was decided that the two deputy ministers would meet again on December 10, 2009 at the Vatican. It was also agreed that the working groups would continue to advance the economic agreement.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon noted at the end of the meeting that "Progress in the economic sphere between Israel and the Vatican is very important, especially with the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI in May."

Photo: Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon with Monsignor Pietro Parolin, Undersecretary for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State at the Vatican in Jerusalem (Source: MFA)

Pope Benedict's Pilgrimage to Israel - Roundup

• More than a hundred rabbis of various denominations will sign a message welcoming Benedict XVI to the Holy Land and encouraging dialogue between Jews and Christians. The initiative -- titled "United in Our Age" -- is being promoted by Rabbi Jack Bemporard, also director of the New Jersey based Center for Interreligious Understanding, and is based on Vatican II's Nostra Aetate. It will be published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. (Zenit News, April 30, 2009).

• Jerusalem Post reports that Pope Benedict XVI and President Shimon Peres will plant an olive tree in a stretch of ground on the Beit Hanassi complex that has been designated as a peace garden, thus inaugurating a new tradition to be followed by all world leaders visiting Beit Hanassi in the future, "so that world peace will symbolically take root."

  
  The article provides further details on the Pope's meeting with Israel's President, noting that despite attempts to politicize the visit, "Benedict XVI is coming to the Holy Land under the banner of peace with goodwill toward all faiths and all nations":

  Aside from a gala red carpet welcome, the pope will be greeted by some 800 people, including Voices of Peace, a 50-member children's choir of Jewish, Christian and Muslim singers from Jaffa; righteous gentiles living in Israel; Holocaust survivors; bereaved families; representatives of the Negev and the Galilee; Nobel Prize laureates; leading academics; leaders of Jerusalem's three major faiths; and various dignitaries.

  Special prayers for peace will be recited by Jewish, Christian and Muslim spiritual leaders.

  Peres and the pope will have a working meeting and will address the gathering before leaving for Yad Vashem.

• Haaretz reports that The Israeli Postal Authority is launching a special stamp series in honor of Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit next month, featuring churches across the country.

• Ron Kronish of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel believes "This is not a time to focus on the problematics of the relationship between Israel and the Vatican. There will be other occasions for that." Rather, we should join with the Pope -- who will spend his first day in Jerusalem at a convocation and reception paying tribute to organizations engaged in interreligious dialogue for peace.

  
  According to Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Nuncio to Israel:

  ccording to the papal representative in Israel, Antonio Franco, “This special event will be held in Jerusalem because we strongly believe that there should be respect and cooperation among people of different religions in order to help reach peace in the region.”

• Yad L'Achim, a haredi anti-missionary organization, has demanded that the Pope help find thousands of European Jews who, as young children, were rescued from the Holocaust by Catholic clergy and laymen and were never told of their Jewish origins.

  
  Rabbi David Rosen, director of the American Jewish Committee's Department for Interreligious Affairs, is sympathetic to the request but not the timing:

  "It is more appropriate to meet with the local archdioceses and attempt to track [them] down on a local level," said Rosen. "It is a bit sensationalist to turn to the pope."

• Finally, in an update to our prior story, Israel National News reports today on the latest round of meetings between Israel and the Vatican negotiating fiscal and property matters -- with no apparent resolution in sight:

  Nothing was signed, and another meeting was scheduled for Dec. 10 at the Vatican.

  Asked if the question of control over the Last Supper room, in the building housing King David’s Tomb on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, is close to being resolved, a Foreign Ministry delegate to the meeting answered in the negative.

  Shmuel Ben-Shmuel, Head of the World Jewish Affairs and Interreligious Affairs Department at Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, told Israel National News, “The question of control over the two rooms above David’s Tomb is something that they raise from time to time, but it is not the subject of these negotiations, nor has Israel shown any signs of ceding its full sovereignty over these areas.”

Vatican-Israeli bilateral working commission report "meaningful progress" in talks over church property. Contested(?): Mount Zion and the Cenacle

I've been hearing various reports from Catholic News Agency to Zenit that there has been progress in negotiations between Israel and the Vatican over the matter of church property. Unfortunately, while both parties seem optimistic there hasn't been a whole lot of actual detail. An article from Catholic News Agency runs along the same ambiguous lines, yet provides some information on the actual points of discussion:

The Vatican and Israeli members of a bilateral working commission met April 23 in Jerusalem and reported in a joint communique that "meaningful progress was achieved after receiving a report from a working group."

The commission scheduled another meeting at the plenary level on April 30 and reaffirmed its "joint commitment to conclude the agreement as soon as possible."

[...]

Both sides have avoided any comment on the substance of the talks, which began in 1999. But knowledgeable church sources said that the issues discussed in the negotiations included:

• Protection of church properties, especially holy places, from government appropriation.
• Restitution of some properties that have been confiscated, including the site of the shrine church in Caesarea, which was expropriated and razed in the 1950s.
• Consolidation and confirmation of historic tax exemptions that have existed for church institutions in the Holy Land. The sources emphasize that the church needs these exemptions in order to survive, and that they are comparable to tax breaks offered religious entities in the United States.
• Access to the Israeli court system for church institutions whenever property disputes arise.

Israel National News -- an opinionated news site that definitely makes its own preferences known on the matter -- states that:

Among the most significant issue under negotiations is the Vatican’s demand for the Last Supper room, located on the second floor of the ancient Mt. Zion building that also houses the tombs of Kings David, Solomon, and Hezekiah.

In addition, the Vatican is claiming areas around Lake Kinneret, as well as in Caesaria and Jerusalem.

(Source: Israel’s Control of Mt. Zion in Danger, by Hillel Fendel. April 26, 2009).

According to INN, a Foreign Ministry official confirmed in 2005 that a “blueprint of a possible agreement with the Vatican has been received.”

According to the plan, Israel would hand over to the Holy See the use of the Cenacle (the room of the event known as the Last Supper, above King David's tomb), which would in turn be handed over to the Custody of the Holy Land, who will in turn use the room for the celebration of Holy Mass, with "official liturgical celebrations of non-Catholic Churches can take place only upon prior written permission by the Custody of the Holy Land."

If this report bodes true, one can understand how it would provoke consternation on the part of not only Jews but non-Catholic Christian communities as well.

However, a later report by Israel National News indicates that a Foreign Ministry official denies categorically that Israel plans to hand over any properties. The article by Hillel Fendal does provide an insight into the fierce politics and rivalries involving this heavily contested abode -- a snippet:

"We were forced to give over part of the compound to the Ministry of Religious Affairs," says Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein, founder and Dean of the Yeshiva, "which then gave it over to the Ministry of the Interior. Ever since then, the Church has been making demands and claims on the area, and has been making inroads. Their goal, ultimately, is to conduct religious services here, with hundreds of thousands of Christian tourists coming through.

"This area is very contested, by many different churches," Rabbi Goldstein (pictured below at David's Tomb) told Israel National News. "Why should the Catholic Church claim be honored more than that of others? Given such a situation, it is clear that the best solution is the status quo: Everyone is permitted to enter, but no religious services are allowed."

Without a doubt, all parties anxiously await what the committee has to report on Thursday, April 30.