Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

Dear Friends,

On July 2nd 1964, returning from India, I was welcomed by the Church Council to serve in the Land of the Holy One. Ever since, both as priest, and Bishop for more than 10 years, never have I forgotten Luke's words written on the wall of Christ Church - Nazareth, where I served for 28 years. Defending human dignity and freedom, turned me into a ‘captive,’ banned from travel abroad for 4 years. Upon my release, a gift of the beautiful painting on this card reached me. I hand it to you entrusting you with the ministry of freedom, healing and reconciliation.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has reassured the people of Bethlehem that neither they, nor the pressures that they live under are forgotten in the West. During a pilgrimage to Bethlehem with other English church leaders, Dr Williams addressed the city’s civic representatives, stressing that problems had to be solved by people working together. One-sided solutions would not deliver justice,

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has pledged his support for the Christian Communities of the Middle East. Writing in The Times today (Saturday 23rd December 2006), Dr Williams says that factors such as reaction to the war in Iraq, mistrust from surrounding communities and security measures have combined to put intolerable pressure on Christians in countries across the region including Iraq, Iran, the Holy Land, Egypt and Turkey, to the point where many are migrating away from their homelands.

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My Dear Friends,

Salaam. I count it my duty to keep you informed of events as they unfold.  In the past two weeks I have visited Lebanon, met with Prime Minister Tony Blair, visited Nablus, and I am preparing to leave on Monday, September 25th where I will spend two weeks in Australia meeting with Churches, Members of Parliament and other Church and government officials.

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Statement by the Patriarch and Local Heads of Churches In Jerusalem
 
'Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.' (Matthew 5:9)

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today.

We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.

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'The voices of the innocent must be heard above the din of war' 

An edited version of this article was published in the Observer newspaper

As I write, the UN continues its deliberations about what kind of resolution might be possible to support and effect a ceasefire in Lebanon. The optimistic gloss is that this could be achieved 'in a few days', though the organisation of an international peacekeeping force is likely to take several weeks.

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An October pilgrimage to Galilee and Jerusalem, planned to be led by Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno and lay leaders Sue and Sandy Smock, has been cancelled overseas due to escalating violence in the region.

'It was only 40 days ago that Iyad Qumri, our friend and guide, was in Los Angeles visiting with pilgrims, past and future,' Sandy Smock wrote to the group. 'Everything was so upbeat, and he was booking trips well into 2007. Now, everything has collapsed, and every single one of his pilgrimages, with the exception of the Rev. Canon John Peterson's National Cathedral Group, has been cancelled.'

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Salah Salam, the mayor of the Lebanese town of Qana in which an apartment building was bombed July 31 by the Israeli military, says that humanitarian aid is desperately needed in his city and elsewhere in Lebanon.

Salam said that churches need to advocate for delivery of such aid as medications, which are no longer available, for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart conditions. He said his brother died July 31 due to a lack of insulin. Salam said 10 people have died of causes ranging from heart attacks from stress to lack of medicines.

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Dear Friends,

When I wrote to you last Friday, I could not have imagined that a second Qana Massacre in a decade would be carried out by the State of Israel on Sunday when they dropped two bombs on a house, crushing at least fifty-six people, including thirty-four children and twelve women.  They suffocated under dirt and debris, virtually buried alive in the make-shift bomb shelter where they had had little water and food and no toilet.   'In 1996, one of the deadliest single events of the whole Arab-Israeli conflict took place there - the shelling of a United Nations base where hundreds of people were sheltering.  More than one hundred were killed and another one hundred injured, cut down by Israeli anti-personnel shells that explode in the air sending a lethal shower of shrapnel to the ground,' reported Martin Asser of BBC News, Beirut.

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At a meeting on the 31st July, the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church expressed its deep concern at the continuing conflict in Israel, Lebanon and Gaza. 

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Anglican bishop joins with other Christian leaders

On Saturday July 29, Caritas Jerusalem's President HB Msgr. Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem accompanied by the Rt. Reverend Bishop Munib Younan, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and Bishop Riah Abu Al Assal, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East with other religious leaders visited the Gaza Strip to show solidarity with the people living there.

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'Where are those Elijahs?'

In an interview with Episcopal News Service, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, speaks about the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Jerusalem and responds to the January 25 Palestinian elections, when the Islamic militant group, Hamas, won a landslide victory.

Following is a full transcript of the interview.

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The Palestinian Election

We congratulate the Palestinian people for their democratic performance in the recent parliamentary elections. We express our respect and our support to the will of the people expressed in these elections. We congratulate all those who were elected.

Our message as Christian leaders in this new phase of our history is the message of our faith and our concern for all. Some may be afraid or troubled because of this new phase. We respond, first, with the words of Jesus Christ: 'Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Peace I bequeath to you; my own peace 1 give you, a peace which the world cannot give' (Jn 14:27). Second, 'Be strong and stand firm' (Jos 1:9). We call upon the Palestinian people to continue their contribution to the making of their history whatever may be the difficulties or obstacles, internal or external.

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'Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, Good-will among men' - Christmas Greetings from the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal
 
The Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal: Allow me first and foremost to wish you a most blessed Christmas and a peaceful 2006. May it be the year of the turning-point in relations world-wide, but in particular here in His Land, in the Land of the Holy One, whose birth in Bethlehem we remember and celebrate, whom we remember with thanks. For unto us, and unto the whole world, a child is born, who is the Prince of Peace, whose name shall always be 'Immanuel' - 'God with us.'

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From the monthly Newsletter of the Diocese of Jerusalem

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The Land of the Holy One has seen new violence in the last days and weeks. A planned visit to Gaza from our Partner Diocese - the Diocese of Massachusetts - this coming Saturday was made impossible by Israeli authorities, much to the disappointment of our staff at Al Ahli Hospital, whose lives are endangered daily due to Israeli air attacks and who are thirsting to see world wide compassion, action and support.

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The Bishop Riah Abu el-Essal (the Bishop in Jerusalem) Educational Campus in Nazareth has a new web site.

It can be found here: http://www.bishopriah-hs.org

A message from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

Dear Friends,

I want to tell you about an attack that occurred on 18 January, damaging St Luke's Hospital and St Philip's Church & Rectory, in Nablus.

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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Salaam / Peace and grace from Bethlehem, the little town in the Land of the Holy One.

Stars do not only penetrate the dark skies; they also give sight and shine bright in the darkest moments of any long and scary night. Light brings life. In the words of St. John: "In Jesus was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:4-5. The circle of life must continue to defeat and indeed overcome all darkness and with a shining armor, it must continue to rift and crack all wombs and tombs and make birth the event of events and the miracle of all miracles.

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Christian pilgrims should return to the Holy Land to support the mission of Palestinian Christians to their own young people - the Revd Samuel Barthoum, Vicar of Christ Church, Nazareth told over 35 Walsingham pilgrims from the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Nazareth this weekend.

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The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem offer their sincere condolences to all concerned on the death of President Yasser Arafat.

President Arafat was the symbol of his people and of his perseverance in asking and claiming for his land and his freedom. He had to face and endure many hardships in his life, not least in the last three years, during which he was kept prisoner in his compound in Ramallah.

We ask God to have compassion on him and to give him eternal rest. Then we ask God to give his people consolation and strength in order to persevere in the claiming of their freedom, their dignity, and their land so that this Holy Land may enjoy peace with tranquillity, thus becoming a haven of peace with security for all its inhabitants as well as providing a sense of security and peace for this region of the world.