Bethlehem standoff exposed weaknesses in
Vatican diplomacy
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Despite a happy ending on May 11 to the standoff at
Bethlehems Basilica of the Nativity, the 39-day drama exposed serious
divisions in Catholic attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian problem, as well
as potential weaknesses in Vatican diplomacy that often relies on informal
mediators and backdoor channels of communication.
While the sexual abuse scandal may have dominated headlines in the
United States, the crisis in Bethlehem was the dominant religion story in the
rest of the world since April 2, when dozens of Palestinians, several of them
militiamen wanted by Israel, fled inside the basilica ahead of invading Israeli
forces. Israeli troops surrounded the fourth-century site, which according to
tradition marks the site where Jesus was born, and demanded the gunmen
surrender, but they refused.
Some 200 people were trapped inside, including civilians and the
Franciscan, Armenian and Orthodox monks who share the nativity shrine.
The siege ended following intervention by the Vatican, the
European Union and United States. Thirteen of the gunmen, allegedly linked to
the Hamas and Fatah organizations, were exiled temporarily to Cyprus, 26 others
were taken to the Gaza Strip, and the rest were released.
Catholic reaction to the crisis at the Basilica of the Nativity
was marked by profound differences.
Church leaders on the ground, especially the Latin Rite Patriarch
Michael Sabbah and the Franciscan friars who serve as custodians of the holy
sites, tend to identify strongly with the Palestinian cause.
Sabbah, for example, has insisted that the root cause
of violence is the Israeli occupation. In an article published May 10, he
repeated the point: As long as there is occupation, the cycle of violence
will continue, Sabbah wrote.
Some senior officials in the Vatican back this view. Coverage of
the Bethlehem crisis in LOsservatore Romano, for example, the
official Vatican newspaper, tended to be strongly anti-Israeli. An April 2
article denounced Israels aggression that is tantamount to
extermination, asserting that its military was profaning the holy
sites with iron and fire.
Others in the Vatican, however, were obviously frustrated with
what they see as the partisan nature of this response. LAvvenire,
for example, the official newspaper of the Italian bishops, took a much more
critical stance toward Palestinian terrorism.
LAvvenire is assumed to reflect in a general way the
views of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the popes vicar for the diocese of Rome
and an influential figure on the European political scene.
Conservative Catholic journalist Sandro Magister went so far as to
suggest in LEspresso, a mass circulation Italian magazine, that
the Franciscans may have exaggerated shortages of food and water inside the
basilica in their public comments in order to generate sympathy for the
Palestinian occupiers. Magister contrasted dire statements from Franciscan Fr.
David Jager, spokesperson for the custodians, about growing hunger with the
statements of the first observers to enter the basilica after the crisis ended,
who reported seeing large amounts of spilled and half-eaten meals.
The Bethlehem crisis also raised questions about Vatican
diplomacy. As the situation dragged on, Pope John Paul II dispatched his
trusted troubleshooter, retired French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, to the region
on May 1. Etchegaray met with Israeli President Moshe Katsav, but was rebuffed
by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a sign that the Israelis were unhappy with the
pro-Palestinian tone of much Catholic commentary.
Katsav, in his session with Etchegaray, complained of the
silence of the Christian world in this affair, especially over
the fact that armed terrorists had taken over the holy place. He
also called on the pope to act with great determination against
the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in the world at large and Europe in
particular.
We know how this phenomenon starts but we never know where
it will lead to, Katsav said.
Etchegaray returned to Rome May 6, amid media reports that the
crisis was about to end with the 13 Palestinian militants heading into exile in
Italy. It quickly emerged, however, that no one had bothered to consult Italy,
and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi balked, insisting that the
responsibility had to be shared by other European nations.
The obvious question was where the idea of Italy as a receptacle
for the Palestinians had come from in the first place. Many observers suggested
Etchegaray had floated the idea, although a senior diplomat close to the
negotiations told NCR this was not true.
Etchegaray told NCR May 9 that it would not have been
within his authority to make such a proposal. The diplomat said the idea
originated with Sabbah, who passed it along to a Turin-based Catholic activist
named Ernesto Olivero, who sometimes functions as an informal Vatican emissary.
Olivero heads a youth missionary organization called Sermig, whose headquarters
in Turin is called the Arsenal of Peace. Olivero said he was
contacted by local authorities in the Holy Land April 25 about accepting the 13
Palestinians.
Olivero, in turn, relayed the idea to his friend Giulo Andreotti,
a former Italian prime minister with good Vatican connections. Andreotti then
talked to officials in the Italian government.
A senior diplomat told NCR this was not the only case in
which Catholic officials acting in ad-hoc capacities complicated the
negotiations. The Franciscans in Bethlehem, he said, had floated the idea of
sending a large group of civilians into the basilica for a prayer service,
after which everyone would come out together, the militants leaving their arms
behind and disappearing into the crowd.
The idea was vetoed both by the Israelis and the Vatican, the
diplomat said, because it ran the risk of turning over a large group of
potential hostages to the Palestinian gunmen.
In response to the Bethlehem crisis, sources say, Vatican
diplomats are reviewing the wisdom of reliance on third-party intermediaries
who may have strong biases and lack a certain real-world savvy, but who may
also be able to propose creative solutions that would be difficult for official
spokespersons to voice.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Rome correspondent. His e-mail
address is jallen@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, May 24,
2002
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