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The Bible and the Holy Land: Pastoral Letter from Jerusalem
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2024
Extract
Spirits burdened by the wars or conflicts between peoples and nations have been uplifted in recent months, especially in the Near East. A new peace process between Israel and its neighbours, including direct negotiations with Palestinian leaders, requires consummate statesmanship and also an adjustment in the hearts of all, moving from fear and hatred to hope and generosity. The Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and Israel (December 30, 1993) has implications for Catholics and Jews everywhere. Within this context, the Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem has promulgated a lengthy pastoral letter in November 1993. An English version is published in Origins 23 (January 20, 1994) pp. 541-555. In the context of an interfaith conference held in Jerusalem from February 1-4, 1994 the Patriarch gave an address entitled “Religious Leadership in the Holy Land.” This text will be studied at the end of the essay.
In the pastoral letter Patriarch Michel Sabbah celebrates explicitly the new hope for “peace and reconciliation between our two peoples, Jewish and Palestinian, and with all the Arab world” (#1). The sad events of prolonged conflict “must not consume the past and present.. . “ but now the struggle will be to maintain and build peace with justice (#1). This letter about the Bible intends to encourage reading and understanding of God’s Word, “in order to make it the object of meditation and prayer” (#2).
The poignancy of praying in the Eucharistic liturgy the psalms and readings about Israel and its neighbours has been particularly graphic for Christian communities in the Near East over recent decades.
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- Copyright © 1994 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers
References
1 It must be noted that, in its context, any verse of Ps 136 indicating a divine action against nations is paralleled by a positive gift to Israel. Thus the litanic refrain (“For his mercy endures forever”) always shows a link between judgement and salvation.
2 Reference is made to centres of biblical studies in the land, “in the bosom of our church in Jerusalem” (#62). The Patriarch might have profited from a reflection on Pope John II's words to the Jewish community in Mainz in 1980: “The first aspect of this dialogue, namely the meeting between the people of God of the old covenant, which has never been revoked by God (cf. Rom 11:29), and the people of God of the new covenant, is at the same time a dialogue within cur church between the first and second pan of its Bible.” See Lohfink, Norbert, The Covenant Never Revoked: Biblical Reflections on Christian‐Jewish Dialogue (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1991)Google Scholar.
3 Another passage of N.A. #4 is quoted in #31 to emphasize continuity between Old and New Testaments: “The Jews remain very dear to God, for the sake for the patriarchs, since God does not take (back) the gifts he bestowed or the choice he made.” This and other citations of N.A. are taken from Flannery, Austin (ed.), Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1975)Google Scholar.
4 Zech 8:3‐9 and 916 are quoted in #50, shortly after the text about “creating a new people.” so the Omission of Zechariah's vision of Jews and non‐Jews in a renewed covenant is striking.
5 See Oesterreicher, John M. and Sinai, Anne (ed.), Jerusalem (New York John Day, 1974)Google Scholar and Wilken, Robert L., The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992)Google Scholar. The fist contains essays on all periods whereas Wilken's excellent study goes from the Bible to the Moslem conquest of the Holy Land.
6 See Burrell, David and Landau, Yehezkel (ed.) Voices from Jerusalem: Jews and Christians Reflect on the Holy Land (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1992)Google Scholar.