Holy Land's 'suffering servants' need advocacy, solidarity, Presiding Bishop urges
Episcopal News Service. March 25, 2008 [032508-02]
Matthew Davies
An image gallery of the Presiding Bishop's visit to the Holy Land is available here.
With an invitation to "come and see for yourself," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori concluded her March 16-24 pastoral visit to the Holy Land recognizing the need for people worldwide to understand the plight of Palestinian Christians -- "their shrinking numbers, the conditions under which they live and work, and the potential that we have not only to advocate for them but to stand in solidarity with them."
The Presiding Bishop's visit, which came at the invitation of Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, was intended to deepen the partnerships between the U.S.-based Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
But the days also afforded Jefferts Schori and an Episcopal Church delegation the opportunity to visit Gaza, engage Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, meet with local ecumenical and interreligious leaders, and to share in the Paschal mystery of Holy Week in services at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem.
The delegation -- which included Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical and interfaith officer; Maureen Shea, director of government relations; and the Presiding Bishop's husband, Richard Schori -- visited Gaza on March 19 to gain a deeper understanding of the humanitarian crisis that is impacting 1.5 million Palestinians in the world's most densely populated region, and experience the ministry of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital, one of the diocese's oldest institutions. (Story available here).
Israeli officials have said that a blockade of Gaza, enforced since January 17, has been necessary to put pressure on militant Palestinians to stop firing rockets into southern Israel. But regular power cuts, food and water shortages, lack of fuel, and counter-attacks from the Israelis are placing immense pressure on the local population.
Reflecting on her experiences, Jefferts Schori said it is essential for Christians around the world to "recognize that among us are people who live in conditions that seem like a Second World War ghetto, as prisoners in their own land, as people whose millennia-old property has been confiscated, as people who suffer enormous indignities and injustices every day, and yet are living here as suffering servants."
Shea described her third trip in five years as "a humbling and moving experience." She noted that, for the first time in her experience, Palestinians are not demanding that the U.S. government do more. "On the other trips, that was always the clearest message that they asked us to take back," she said. "It's as if they feel we've forgotten them and they have given up on the U.S. as a partner in the search for peace."
For Epting, the visit offered much to celebrate ecumenically and interreligiously. Anglicans, Lutherans and Presbyterians are cooperating with each other on a variety of levels, Epting noted, "and it was great to see us together liturgically as we worshipped -- all three communions -- on the Maundy Thursday procession to Gethsemane and…jointly leading the way of the cross on Good Friday morning."
Epting praised the work of the Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Lutheran pastor and general director of the International Center of Bethlehem, an ecumenically oriented institution that runs a youth program, art gallery, auditorium, and artistic and music workshops.
"Everyone here knows how important education and formation of these young lives are for the building of the eventual Palestinian state," said Epting, who was visiting the Holy Land for the fourth time.
One of the highlights, he said, was seeing Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan and Dawani, who were pastors together in Ramallah, interact with one another. "I believe we will see a more formal relationship between the Episcopal Church here and the Lutherans," Epting said.
In Gaza, Epting said he was amazed at the ease with which Greek Orthodox Archdeacon Artemios received the Presiding Bishop. "Some of the stresses and strains we find within our own Communion and ecumenically in the West really melt away here because of the challenges they face," Epting said. "When you have dwindling numbers of Christians we need each other and we have to begin to work together in ways where some of the divisions take second place to the unity we have in Christ."
Epting was greatly encouraged, particularly in Gaza and Nazareth, to see Christians and Muslims "working together side by side for the common good, clearly acknowledging their differences, but respecting and honoring one another as they have done for centuries."
Christians and Muslims attend one another's festivals in some parts of the Holy Land, including Gaza. "It's the idea of the common heritage that we do indeed have as Abrahamic siblings and also recognizing that we can celebrate with the other, even if we don’t share the other's theology," Epting said.
The delegation heard several references throughout the week to a new Council of Religious Institutions in the Holy Land, in which Dawani has played an active role. "For the first time ever there seems to be a viable interfaith council of Jews and Christians and Muslims here who are working together, who are being a witness together for peace and for reconciliation and also seeking to have a place at the table for any talks about the final stages of Jerusalem, assuring access and respect for the Holy sites," Epting said.
The delegation met on Maundy Thursday with Rabbi David Rosen, international director of Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee, who offered an overview of his work and his perspective on the situation in the Middle East.
Earlier in the week, the delegation met with research organization B'Tselem and human rights organization Ir Amim, "Israelis who are dedicated to Israel yet also dedicated to the human rights of the Palestinian people," Epting said. "They have a very difficult job in walking that tightrope between the state of Israel and its policies and the Palestinian people. I was most moved by their heroic work."
Shea described B'Tselem as "a very careful Israeli group that documents the problems people encounter with issues such as the settlements and the separation wall," adding she is encouraged by the news that they will be opening an office in Washington, D.C., "because having an Israeli voice that also tells the story of the Palestinians is enormously helpful in our work."
As director of government relations, Shea's work involves bringing some of these human rights issues to the attention of the U.S. government in the hope of informing and influencing public policy. "We can all talk in theory about what we've read in the newspapers, but it is very different to be able to say I've met these people, I've been there, I've seen these things."
"To be able to go to Gaza, experience the work of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital, to hear about the hundreds of years that Christians and Muslims have worked together and lived together, and to be able to go back and tell that story is a real gift," she added.
Asked how people around the world could help with these issues, Shea said: "We should always be remembering people in our prayers -- Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom want a more just world. They want to feel safe in their communities and secure and to be recognized."
She also emphasized the importance of advocacy groups such as the Episcopal Public Policy Network and Churches for Middle East Peace. "It is important for people to educate themselves and educate others about the situation -- which doesn't get enough attention -- and to try to have difficult discussions with others about the importance of this part of the world," she said. "If we are not able to find peace for Israelis and Palestinians there will not be peace in this entire region."
Jefferts Schori's first visit to the Holy Land in 1995 "was very much focused on the Jewish roots of our faith and I didn’t really have any interaction with Palestinians," she said, "so this really helps to broaden my perspective and to see particularly how the church can be effectively engaged in partnership and solidarity."
The Presiding Bishop was struck by the Palestinians' ability to live with "enormous indignity and, on the part of the vast majority of them, not to retaliate; by the fact of the abusive treatment of people at checkpoints and border crossings; and by the reality that large numbers of people have left from all faiths because life is so difficult here."
But, said Jefferts Schori, "I am struck by the gracious presence -- and I mean that in the literal sense of the word, filled with grace -- and the ability of people to look for the image of God in their brothers and sisters who may see them as enemies."
"I am certainly going to take back the stories of Palestinian Christians and Muslims and their ability to live together in peace and their productive engagement in their own communities," she said.
Holy Week, Holy Land
Worshipping in the Holy Land during the holiest of Christian seasons presented many firsts for Jefferts Schori.
Marking the annual Palm Sunday celebrations, Jefferts Schori made Anglican history on March 16 by becoming the first woman bishop ever to preach at St. George's Cathedral. (Story available here).
On Maundy Thursday, the holy day commemorating Jesus' last supper with his apostles, she washed the feet of pilgrims and local Christians during an evening service at St. George's Cathedral followed by a procession to Gethsemane. (Story available here).
The delegation joined pilgrims and Christians in the Holy Land March 21 to share in Christ's Passion as they embarked on Jesus' passage along the Via Dolorosa -- a Good Friday devotion known as the Stations of the Cross. The Presiding Bishop and Epting offered readings and prayers at some of the 14 stations that represent chief scenes of Christ's suffering and death. (Story available here).
On Holy Saturday, the delegation traveled throughout Galilee with Palestinian tour guide Iyad Qumri, walking in Jesus' footsteps and recalling his prophetic and healing ministry throughout Palestine.
On Easter Day at St. George's Cathedral, Jefferts Schori joined local Christians and pilgrims of many nationalities to share in the joyful Eucharistic celebration of Jesus' resurrection following the Paschal mystery of his suffering and death. (Story available here).
During the service, the Presiding Bishop gave thanks for the ministry of the local Church and "its wonderful leadership," the hospitality she and her delegation had received, and the friendships formed throughout her visit. "We take you home with us in our hearts and we will never be the same," she said, emphasizing the need to build a kingdom of God -- of peace -- around the world.
Servant ministry
Earlier in the week, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem's commitment to the welfare and education of Palestinians was highlighted March 18 as Jefferts Schori learned about some of the important work of the diocesan institutions as she toured the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Story available here).
"From the schools we saw and the educational center, it's clear that education is a big part of this diocese," said Jefferts Schori. "When children can be taught to love their neighbors of whatever religious persuasion, there is abundant hope. The diocesan schools here educate a population that is primarily Muslim but they do it in a Christian environment and people value that education and therefore they send their children -- that in itself is a vastly important tool of evangelism."
The diocese's 35 institutions throughout the Holy Land include hospitals, clinics, kindergartens and schools, vocational training programs, and provide services for the deaf, the disabled and the elderly.
Speaking about Dawani's leadership, Jefferts Schori said it's clear that he is a servant. "That's how he understands his ministry," she said. "The classic understanding of the ministry of the bishop is the servant of the servants of God. He's not interested in self promotion; he's not interested in having his name on everything. He wants to see that the people in need are served and that the Jesus who confronts us is met with compassion."
Jefferts Schori recognized the professionals that Dawani has employed in a wide variety of fields "who are giving their time to help lead the ministries of this diocese into the next era of productive engagement with communities -- medical people, educational people, financial people, development people who give selflessly of their own time and assets in furtherance of the mission of this diocese."
Dawani, who was installed as Jerusalem's Anglican bishop in April 2007, said the Presiding Bishop's visit "gives us assurance that we have many Christians -- many Episcopalians -- who are praying for us and who really care about what we are doing here in this land of the Holy One."
"Her presence has been very much appreciated by everyone in the Diocese of Jerusalem as they have seen a very concerned and faithful woman coming to be in solidarity with the people here, with the churches and the institutions," said Dawani. "Her visit has had a great impact on all of us here. We pray that the Anglican Church and the Episcopal presence here will be strengthened by this visit. We are looking forward to working together in the future with all Anglicans."
Shea said it isn’t possible to be in Jerusalem on Easter Day "without feeling the risen Lord and realizing how important reconciliation is. Christians have played that role here, as neighbors and friends helping one another, and it is a role we have to play everywhere and we are challenged to do it."
"Come and see for yourself," said Jefferts Schori. "Come and discover how to build partnerships so that you too can stand in solidarity with the people here."