Visa situation worsens for religious in Holy Land, priest says

Published: 2004-04-05

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Visa problems are worsening for foreign religious living and working in the Holy Land, a church official said. Assumptionist Father Robert Fortin, director of the Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem, said that 138 religious have been denied visas so far this year, up from 86 last year. Generally, religious living in the West Bank or Gaza have been unable to obtain a visa, he said. "That includes Americans, British, Irish, priests, nuns. Most of them are staying here illegally," he said. In late March, a British religious brother who teaches at Bethlehem University in the West Bank was denied treatment at a Jerusalem hospital because his visa expired, Father Fortin said. Many religious are afraid to go out on the streets for fear of being arrested, he said. A Polish Franciscan brother was arrested March 15 on a bus near Tel Aviv. The brother was jailed and released after a lot of "diplomatic maneuvering," Father Fortin said.

Copyright (c) 2004 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 The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in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 .