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The Vatican in Jerusalem!

News Flash! “Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says police have ‘stepped up’ patrols and surveillance across the country, and that thousands of police officers will be deployed during the pope’s visit to ensure it goes smoothly.” (Source: Israel Hayom, May 14, 2014). Rosenfeld’s statement was in direct response to the Roman Catholic official in charge of the Vatican’s properties in the Holy Land, who urged Israel to protect Christian holy sites including churches and monasteries in Jerusalem that had recently been vandalized. And to please do so before Pope Francis’ visit to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank (Judea/Samaria) May 24-26.

The very fact that Pope Francis will travel to Israel is remarkable. I make that observation in the historical light of estranged relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Israel as represented by both its (secular) government and religious observant Jews that has existed off and on for decades … indeed, for hundreds of years. However, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pope Francis I have reached out to one another in an effort to reconcile differences. Whereas a papal visit to Israel is definitely newsworthy, it is also something to be expected in today’s ecumenical and politically correct world of strange bedfellows.

Totally unexpected and even more amazing than the Pope’s brief tour of Israel (including a visit to the Western Wall) is a recent report from reliable sources that Prime Minister Netanyahu is interested in transferring Jewish administrative control of the Tomb of King David to the Roman Catholic Church! Aren’t there enough Christian holy sites in Israel under the jurisdiction of either the Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox clergy? The answer to that is a resounding yes, dozens of them … such as the (most well-known) Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Why then give a revered Jewish site to the Roman Catholic Church in general and specifically to the entity known as “Custody of the Holy Land.” What is this Holy Land Custodianship all about?

Custody of the Holy Land?

Straight from Wikipedia, we read: “The Custodian of the Holy Land … is an officer of the Franciscan order, appointed by the General Definitorium of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, with the approval of the Pope and the Holy See. The Custodian … is the head of all Franciscans in the Holy Land. On 15 May 2004 Pierbattista Pizzaballa was appointed Custodian of the Holy Land, succeeding Giovanni Battistelli, who held the office for six years. On Friday, June 28, 2013, Pope Francis confirmed that he (Pizzaballa) would continue as Custodian for at least a further three years.”

Wikipedia’s article continues: “Today, the jurisdiction of the Custodian covers Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt…. The Custody has about 300 friars and about 100 sisters in these countries. The Franciscans serve the principal Christian shrines, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Basilica of the Annunciation at Nazareth.”