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Vatican to distant from Archbishop
Butros
ABCD
Rome
- After
a Middle East synod of Catholic bishops, Cyril Salim Bustros (photo), head of the Greek Melkite Church in the United
States, speaking at a press conference, said: "The theme of the promised land cannot be used as a basis to justify the return of the Jews to Israel and the expatriation of the Palestinians."
For Christians one can no longer talk of the land promised to the Jewish
people, because the promise was abolished by the presence of Christ. In the kingdom of God, which covers the whole world,
there is no longer a favoured people, a chosen people, all men and women of every country have become the chosen
people. The Palestinian refugees will eventually come back." The
bishops listed the occupation of Palestinian lands, Israel’s West Bank security
barrier, its military checkpoints, political prisoners, demolition of homes and disturbance of
Palestinians’ social and economic activities for making life increasingly difficult for
Palestinians, and called on the United Nations to implement its resolutions and end Israeli occupation of Arab
lands. ,
Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, said that by inviting all Palestinian refugees to return and denying Israel’s right to define itself a Jewish state
Bustros is denying Israel’s right to exist. Israel's
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said the synod was hijacked by an anti-Israel
majority. He urged the Vatican to distant themselves from Archbishop Butros’s
comments.”
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