VATICAN, Apr. 6, 01 (CWNews.com) - The bishop of Nazareth, speaking to reporters in Rome, has lent his support to public complaints that the government of Israel is not giving adequate protection to Christian shrines.
Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo said that the Israeli decision to allow construction of a large mosque in Nazareth, on a site adjacent to the Basilica of the Annunciation, puts that important Christian shrine "in a state of siege."
In an interview with the Roman news agency I Media, Bishop Marcuzzo said that he agreed with complaints raised by Father Giovanni Battistelli, the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land. The Custos-who is responsible for most of the Catholic shrines in Israel-had written an open letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urging him to halt the construction of the mosque.
"The solution is in the hands of Ariel Sharon," Bishop Marcuzzo said. He said that the government's decision to allow the construction of the mosque was a severe blow to the cause of inter-religious dialogue in Nazareth. Until last year, when the controversy about plans for the mosque arose, Christians and Muslims had coexisted amicably in the town.
Bishop Marcuzzo said that the effort to build a mosque had been a blatantly political ploy, engineered by a small group of Muslims without the support of the town's Islamic majority. He pointed out that he, like other Christian leaders, had not expressed opposition to the construction of a mosque, but only deplored the decision to build so close to the basilica. Most Muslims agreed with his point, he said.
Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update
6. april 2001