Latin patriarch says security fence threatens peace in Holy Land

Published: 2003-12-29

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- The new security fence being built by Israel will further divide Palestinians and Israelis and present new challenges to peace, said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem. In his Christmas Eve homily, Patriarch Sabbah said that building the barrier would not change the fact that many in the Holy Land live under the threat of violence. He noted that Israelis still lack security and Palestinians still live under occupation. "A dividing wall ... is against the nature of this land of God," he said during the Mass in St. Catherine's Church, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the grotto where it is believed that Jesus was born. "It is against the nature of the two peoples called to live together," he said. Patriarch Sabbah said the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land was "the basic evil" that has led to other kinds of violence.

Copyright (c) 2003 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .