H.E. Mr. Shimon Peres
Prime Minister
Jerusalem

Your Excellency

We, the heads of the Catholic communities in Israel gathered in Jerusalem for our annual general assembly, in face of the recent events which have hit our sociey so hard, as well as considering the general situation of the Catholic Church in Israel today, believe it our obligation to offer you the following, considerations.

First of all, we wish to reaffirm our firm and unequivocal condemnation of any and all acts of violence and terrorism, and in particular of those acts which recently occured in Israel with grave consequences of death and destruction, all the more deserving of condemnation because directed at innocent and helpless population, in the midst of their everyday activities.

As Heads of the Catholic communities, covering both Israeli and Palestinian we wish to reaffirm our complete and sincere support, as well as that of all our faithful, for a peace process leading to an atmosphere of justice, tranquillity and peace, with genuine respect for human rights, a balanced exercise of obligations, in a climate of mutual understandig, collaboration and harmony between the Israeli and Palestinian populations. To this end we direct all our efforts in the daily exercice of our religious and civic activities, in the field of education and instruction in our schools, of health care in our hospitals and nursing homes, and generally in educating toward building together a healthy, pluralistic, free, peaceful and secure society.

Unfortunately, we must note that steps taken relatve to the closure of the territories bring with them very serious difficulties for the carrying out of our everyday activities. Many schools have had to close, many health care centers have seen their possibilities for assuring patients the necessary cares gravely reduced, many people stand to lose their regular employment as they are unable to reach the work place, many families have been divided, all in a climate of great tension and general dissatisfaction. These dispositions. being so grave and general, come forth as a hard punishment particularly against the innocent; the disastrous consequences involved risk to provoke very negative reactions even toward the same authorities which have imposed them. We wish to present our well-founded request that these general dispositions be lifted as soon as possible; or if measures for the sake of security and control are needed, that a way be found to permit the general population normal life and the possibity of earning a living. In particular, for the personnel who work in our church institutions, we ask that a way be found to resolve adequately and as soon as possible the problem of their freedom of movement, as was mutually agreed in the "Fundamental Agreement", of December 1993, between thee Catholic Church and the State of Israel, in which the Catholic Church is guaranteed "the right to carry out its religious, moral, educational and charitable functions, and to have its own institutions, and to train, appoint and deploy its own personnel in the said institutions or for the said functions to these ends"; which solution we promised to H.E. Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Secretary of the Holy See for the Relations with States, during his official visit to Israel last December.

With the normalization of official reIations between the Catholic Church and the State of IsraeI certainly a new climate of understanding and dialogue has come about, with its new concrete and positive aspects of mutual agreement and shared initiatives. And it is precisely our clear intention that this climate not deteriorate but that it perdure and further develop.

Nonetheless we cannot fail to note that there is a series of particular problems which await, for some time, a solution. Allow us to mention, in a separate Memo, some of the more important and urgent of them.

In conclusion, while we cannot dispense ourselves from presenting to the public authorities these our observations, worries and concerns, as well as our clear position in the matter, we wish on the other hand to renew our willingness, with the help of God, to continue our very best efforts to build together this society, expressing the hope to obtain from the public authorities that understanding, trust and willingness to collaborate which are nccessary to reach together this goal with justice and peace.

+ Michel Sabbah,
President.

Memo

1 - Religious personnel specialized in nursing care, strictly necessary to the Catholic medical institutions, are not able to obtain regular work permits at all, or only in a very restrictive way.

2 - The former inhabitants of the villages of Iqrith and Bereem, entirely catholic, are still blocked from returning to live on all their land and in their former homes, a favorable decision of the Supreme Court notwithstanding.

3 - The sensitivities of catholics and of christian faith in general are gravely offended by things which appear in the means of social communication and in school textbooks, without proper measures being undertaken by the competent public authorities.

4 - Archaeological sites from the christian tradition do not seem to recieve due respect (particulally, Castra, Haifa).

5 - The traditional exemption from the payment of customs duties is not respected.

6 - Various Municipalities continue to demand payment of"arnona" by catholic institutions which work for the public good, while traditionally they were exempt. Given the negotiations between the Holy See and Israel in course, it had been indicated that requests for new taxes should await the terms of the agreement. Some Municipalities also withold subsidies, paid by the State to institutions through their offices, or deduct the amount demanded in "arnona" from rent due by them to these institutions.