Introduction
On this day ten years ago
Bethlehem hosted a rather significant event. I would like to begin with a commemoration of that day. Its joy and subsequent pain may help us in our discovery and responsibility vis-à-vis the Christians of the Holy Land.
On December 4 in 1999 more than 12 000 Christians gathered in Manger Square to begin the celebration of Jubilee 2000. They came from the Bethlehem and Jerusalem area and all regions of the land and celebrated with songs and prayers, choirs and folklore, scouts´ parades and dances, and messages from some of the leaders. Joy and jubilation was in the air: joy in the birth of the Prince of Peace, and jubilation in a renewed Bethlehem and with a peace process that gave hope.
Of course the celebration of Jubilee 2000 was special in Bethlehem. But it was more to this celebration than its location next to the Church of the Nativity. Never before, nor later has Palestinian Christianity been manifested in such an assembly and with such visibility and unity. This was also the broadest ecumenical celebration ever held in the Holy Land and inaugurated a new era of Christian unity. But the event was also unique in another sense: one year later the joy of that day was replaced by despair with the second intifada, further occupation and conflict, and with new waves of emigration. Today such a gathering would be impossible.
The focus of this seminar is on the current exodus of Christians from the Holy Land. I would like to put this decline into perspective for the sake of our relations to them. With some further images from the celebration in Bethlehem I will elaborate on the significance of Palestinian Christianity – our recent discovery and present responsibility. But before I do this, I will have to make a brief detour.
1. Our Recent Discovery
It is mainly within the last decades that an awareness of the Christians of the Holy Land has come to us in our Norwegian, Lutheran and Protestant context. The last 150 years has more been marked by our affinity and relations to the Jewish People.
In 1851 the prohibition for Jews to enter and live in our country was removed from our Constitution, and since the end of the 19-th century we have had Jewish communities in our midst. In that same period there was a significant reorientation among Protestant Christians in Europe with regard to the Jewish People as the people of the Covenant and a new awareness of the Jewish identity of Jesus. When the atrocities against the Jewish People during Holocaust took place on European soil, many in our church and country wanted to identify with the Jews and rejoiced when the State of Israel was established. In the wake of 1948 several links were therefore also developed between Norway and Israel.
When I refer to this history, it is simply to state that we before this had few relations to the Middle East, to Arabic culture and language, and to the historic churches there. This has changed in the last four decades, not only because of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but because of modern travel and pilgrimage and ecumenical relations. But a new discovery of a family we were not actually aware of, should not undermine a friendship which is already there. I say this because our links with Israel and the Jewish People are not irrelevant for our relation to the Holy Land Christians.
With this short detour it is time to ask: When we speak of the Christians of the Holy Land, what is it that we actually have discovered and are discovering? And what does this new awareness imply?
2. Holy Land, Palestinian Identity and Ecumenical renewal
Most churches in the Holy Land carry names of another country and culture, and for centuries other languages than Palestinian Arabic has been used in their liturgy. On the podium in Manger Square ten years ago were leaders of the churches in their diverse robes and costumes, and you may appreciate this colourful list: Greek-Orthodox and Armenian-Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Greek-Catholic, Syrian-Orthodox, Ethiopian-Orthodox and Coptic-Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and Baptist, and the list is still not complete.
On that December 4, however, their indigenous language, Palestinian Arabic, was the common language used, the celebration was marked by Palestinian culture, and many were dressed in colourful Palestinian dresses with traditions from the land through centuries. There was a spirit of renewal in the air with these expressions of their Christian and Palestinian identity and their historical link to the land.
The fact is that parallel to our discovery of the Christians of the Holy Land, there has been among them a significant recovery of their Palestinian identity with their historical roots and belonging in the land, and for us it is important to appreciate how this Palestinian identity is linked to their Christian identity and has ecumenical significance.
Palestinian Christians have a continuous history back to the early church. They were there long before the Muslim era, and they have given life to the Gospel tradition and the holy places up to this day. They belong to the Land of Jesus. Although they appreciate their belonging to different church traditions – Greek or Roman, Anglican or Lutheran, - the indigenous Christians share a unique heritage which preceded their diversity: the Gospel and the Land of the Lord. The renewal of their distinct Palestinian identity has to do with the Gospel, the land and new expressions of Christian unity.
Today of course they share the land with Muslims and Jews. At this point I want to narrow our focus to the land as part of their Christian identity. Let me give one illustration. The first Palestinian Catechism in Arabic was written 1300 years ago by a man called Theodore Abu, and he expanded on a tradition from bishop Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century. In this catechism parents are told to teach their children the Christian faith with clear references to the various stations in the life of Jesus as he walked through the land. For instance:
- The Church in Nazareth bears testimony that the angel Gabriel came to Mary and brought her a message from God…
- The Church by the river Jordan bears testimony that Jesus was baptized by John in that river…
- The Church by Jericho bears testimony that Jesus on his was to Jerusalem healed two blind men by the road…
I cannot quote more than these excerpts, but all stations are there from Bethlehem to Calvary and the Mt. of Olives. This tradition has put its mark on the confessional and praying life of the indigenous communities since then, as well as on pilgrims travelling through the land. In this way the Palestinians anchored their faith and life in the Gospel and the land, in this way they have kept our common Christian heritage rooted in history and made it a living testimony.
I wonder if we today are able to grasp the significance of this, not only for them, but for the Church worldwide – the oikoumene. What would have happened to the Gospel tradition in the Land of Jesus if they hadn’t been there and kept the holy sites as living testimonies? Should we not today therefore appreciate their renewed Palestinian identity and its link to the Gospel and the land?
3. Palestinian identity – Christians and Muslims
For centuries Palestinian Christians have shared the land with Muslims. They have lived as neighbours, and for the longest periods as good neighbours. But history also tells us of conflicts and that it has not always been easy. In Bethlehem on December 4 ten years ago we also got a glimpse of that.
In the middle of the celebration, when the Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbath spoke, the muezzin in the minaret on the opposite side of Manger square started to sound its call for prayer. The mosque had been asked to lower the voice of the muezzin during the celebration. But now his call was given with maximum sound over Manger square, and Patriarch Sabbath had to interrupt his sermon. For 11 minutes the crowd of 12 000 kept silence, curious what the Patriarch would say when he continued. He simply said: “Now the muezzin has called to prayer, and we shall also pray – for them, for us and for our land.” When these words sank in, I thought: This is a response from a man and a tradition that has learned to live with Muslims and maintain their Christian integrity.
Christian-Muslim relations are complex. My point here is that a renewal of the Palestinian identity among Christians has also fostered a sense of unity with Palestinian Muslims. They not only have shared the land, the Muslims there have also revered the traditions of the prophets and include Jesus in this tradition. We are not always aware of the fact that Muslims in the Holy Land have a closer affinity to biblical traditions and places than Muslims in other countries. 150 years ago a pilgrim reported on a conversation with a Muslim in Bethlehem. He told that this man constantly spoke of “our Lord Jesus” and “the holy virgin Mary” and emphasized that “no Muslim will ever tolerate that the name of Jesus is dishonoured.”
Today Palestinian Christians also suffer from the conflict between PLO and Hams. But this does not diminish their sense of unity with the Palestinian Muslims. On the contrary, they share with others the suffering from this struggle within the people, and they share a common concern for survival and a future in the land. I believe we also should take this into account as we relate to the Palestinian Christians and pray for the current situation in the Holy Land.
4. Palestinian Christians and Israel
Standing in Manger square on that day ten years ago, I could not help but consider the following: Here this assembly of Palestinian Christians celebrated the birth of a Jewish child, and their joy included his mother, the Jewish Miriam, and the Jewish carpenter Josef. Although this celebration was unique, had they not done so throughout the centuries – not only once a year in Bethlehem, but throughout the land every week? I trust you get the paradox: the Gospel story rooted in the Jewish People in the Land two thousand years ago, a Gospel tradition kept alive in the Land by Palestinian Christians through the centuries.
There have always been Jewish people in the land since the time of Jesus. But today they are back as a nation, and through immigration and growth they have become the majority. The Jewish population is approaching 6 millions, of which half a million live in the occupied territories. The Palestinian population is around 4 millions in the Palestinian territories and 1 ½ million in Israel. Among the Palestinians there is a Christian population of roughly 150.000, the majority in Galilee, and the number of Messianic Jews/Hebrew Christians is approaching 10.000.
The history of Christian–Jewish relations has had many periods of positive rapprochement, for instance at the time of Jewish immigration in the first half of last century. In the villages of Ikrit and Biram in Upper Galilee they wanted to welcome Jews who wanted to settle in the land, and Palestinian Christians have often appreciated the Jewish link to the land of their Fathers and their Scriptures. However, the mentioned paradox has been sharpened by the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It is a territorial conflict, but it also involves water, it is a cultural clash, and it involves religion. The consequences are too painful for few words to describe them, there too many dead and suffering, but also a growing emigration and a declining Christian population. And the gravity of the exodus today has a history.
1948 was a year of joy for the Jewish people, and we share their joy. But we also share the lament of the Palestinians over what happened to them at that time: the large exodus of populations from hundreds of villages and the devastation and destruction of the same villages, many of them Christian, including Ikrit and Biram. These villages had hundreds of years of history, some of them located near sites related to the life of Jesus in Galilee. Today not only Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, but old Palestinian villages with a Christian population are threatened by the ongoing exodus – in the Palestinian territories as well as in Galilee and the greater Tel-Aviv area.
The Palestinian Christians are thus facing two overwhelming challenges: How shall they respond to the atrocities of the conflict, and how shall they build a future for their people and the Church in the Holy Land? In one sentence: How do they contribute to a sustainable peace?
5. Responding to the situation
One year after the joyful celebration in Bethlehem their optimism was shattered, brought to an end with the second Intifada, renewed occupation and conflict and a new wave of emigration. Some of my Palestinian friends in Bethlehem who had come from abroad to settle there during the optimism of the mid-nineties, then experienced that their relatives now left the land with their families.
Early 2001 I spoke with Archbishop Kamal Battish of the Latin Patriarchate, with whom I had shared the joyful celebration in Bethlehem. Now he said something like this: “The joy of Mary at the birth of Christ was followed by suffering. Mary of Joy became Mater Dolorosa. It seems to me that we now have to share her suffering. But we must not loose hope that God still is with us. Mary also received the Joy of the Resurrection.”
I share this comment with you, because it shows some of the deep spirituality among Palestinian Christians. But this spirituality is not separated from their reality. Let me point to what this spirituality means in their current context.
Their rootedness in the mystery of the incarnation, the cross and the resurrection implies a response of non-violence to the atrocities from the Israeli army and settlers. Non-violent response and resistance is not only promoted by their leaders, it is found in their congregations and among children in class-rooms of Christian schools.
Paramount in their response to atrocities is therefore also a call for reconciliation with Israel and the Jews, but today also among struggling Palestinian fractions. Among Palestinian Christians there are several bridge-building initiatives in relation to Israeli groups and Jewish people – from the Lutheran Beit-Avraham in Beit-Jala to Melkite educational institutions in Galilee. Some of these initiatives involve Messianic Jews or Hebrew Christians.
Although it is impossible here to elaborate on their situation and growth, the more than 100 congregations of the Messianic Jews should not be forgotten when we speak of the Holy Land Christians. Their presence in the land, their testimony and role in the ministry of reconciliation should also be considered when we are concerned with sustainable peace and the future of the churches there.
But this attitude of non-violence and search for reconciliation is also rooted in the prophetic tradition of the land. There is a fresh reading of the Bible among the Palestinian Christians. If for a moment we recall the Old Testament story of Elijah and King Ahab, the peasant Nabot and his vineyard, we may appreciate the impact of this story in the current situation. This reading of the Bible has not only ethical implications, but reaches into the actual political situation.
Further, dialogue is taking place between Christians, Muslims and Jews on several levels. Palestinian Christian leaders have often been instrumental in getting this dialogue off the ground, and my own colleague Trond Bakkevig has played a key role in creating the interreligious Council of Religious Institutions in Jereusalem. One issue in this dialogue is the role of and free access to the holy places of the three traditions. From what I have said earlier, you will appreciate the significance of this.
Finally, and not the least important, they are concerned to build the Christian community and testimony from within: through their worship life and educational institutions, through hospitals and diakonia, through pastoral care and a living testimony in their own setting. Today this includes practical planning for housing possibilities and living conditions for the Palestinian Christians who are still there.
6. Our present responsibility
In conclusion I will now briefly summarize what this acquaintance with the Holy Land Christians implies for our responsibility vis-à-vis them and the situation there.
Firstly, the Palestinian Christians need that we in our country not only recognize, but learn to appreciate their Palestinian identity and their historical link to the Gospel and the land. As pilgrims we should learn to treasure the connection between the historical monuments and the living stones. In political terms this demands a call to Israeli authorities that we are not only concerned about the holy places as pilgrims, but about living space for the communities which have kept these places through the centuries.
Secondly, through prayer and practical initiative we should support them in their ministry of reconciliation and dialogue, but also in their prophetic protest when human rights are violated. Particularly we should support their pastoral and practical ministry to build a future for their communities and living testimony.
Thirdly, as Christians we are not only concerned with people as ethnic groups or national entities. Every man is created in the image of God – Jew, Muslim and Christian. With reference to what I said about our affinity to the Jewish People and appreciation of the Jewish tradition, I therefore quote the Palestinian archbishop of the Melkite Church in Galilee. He said: “In our present situation neither we Palestinian Christians nor Israeli Jews need new enemies. We need common friends.” These words from Archbishop Elias Chacour also illustrate how much the Palestinian Christians are needed as bridge-builders for a sustainable peace in the land we call holy.
Today Palestinian Christians in a special sense live under the cross and carry the cross. But in the seeds of the cross there is already the promise of fruit that will grow. In the midst of the conflict a new and common Christian identity is growing among them, and this also harbours hope. Our responsibility is not to take away the cross, but to carry it together with them and support them in our prayers with our common faith and hope.