ADL urges Israeli government to resolve clergy-visa issue

Published: 2004-04-13

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- The New York-based Anti-Defamation League has urged the Israeli government to resolve the backlog of visa renewals for Christian clergy working or residing in Israel. "We have received many calls and complaints, and we have done our best to assure our Christian friends that we know that this matter is being taken seriously and will be resolved soon," ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman wrote in an April 8 letter to Israeli Interior Minister Avram Poraz. "While we recognize that these delays are not caused by any purposeful interference with the work of Christian clergy, it is difficult to explain," he said in his letter. "It is our hope that your intervention will create the impetus necessary to see this problem to its speedy and proper resolution." Assumptionist Father Robert Fortin, director of the Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem, told Catholic News Service that, in the first three months of 2004, 52 religious were denied visas, bringing the total to 138 religious who are still trying to obtain permission to work in the Holy Land.

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