Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
The agreement was described by both sides as a political and religious milestone after 2,000 years of harsh feelings between Christians and Jews.
Pope John Paul II is likely to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, possibly in 1994, once the diplomatic ties are in place.
"We thought the time was proper. We have new, positive developments that must be taken into consideration," said the Vatican's representative, Monsignor Claudio Celli, after signing the pact.
Chief among them is the prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the possibility their ongoing negotiations might decide the future of Jerusalem.
Thursday's signing ceremony - in which the two states pledged to exchange ambassadors by April - was set with a backdrop of historical grievances: the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Holocaust.
"Behind the agreement there are thousands of years of history, full of hatred, fear and ignorance," said Yossi Beilin, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister. "Behind the agreement there are very few years of light and too many years of darkness."
Until 1965, the Roman Catholic Church held all Jews collectively responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus. Jews cited the Vatican's silence during the Holocaust and resented what many saw as hostility to modern Israel.
"Can we ignore the memories of so many years? No," said Beilin. "It is wrong to ignore memory, much as it is wrong to let memories tie our hands and determine our fate."
Christianity, the world's largest religion, has 1.8 billion members, of whom about half are Roman Catholic. Judaism has about 17 million members, about 4 million in Israel.
The establishment of diplomatic ties has less to do with theology than with practical politics, according to analysts.
More than 130 countries have officially recognized Israel, so the Vatican's refusal to do so was becoming anachronistic. And the Vatican faced pressures, primarily from Catholics in the United States, to join in recognizing Israel, according to Sergio Minerbi, author of "The Vatican and Zionism."
Israel, likewise, has long pursued a goal of breaking out of its diplomatic isolation.
Vatican recognition was blocked from the start of modern Israel's creation by the Vatican's refusal to accept its claim to statehood and its adoption of Jerusalem as its capital. The Vatican had said the Israeli-Palestinian issue must be solved before formal relations could begin.
Monsignor Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, said the agreement signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization on Sept. 13 takes a step to satisfying that requirement.
Celli repeated the Vatican's longstanding call for international protection for the holy sites in Jerusalem. That is flatly rejected by Israel, which claims sovereignty over all of the city.
by CNB