Holy See-Israel Dialogue to Resume

Saturday, 19 May 2007 09:40

Focusing on Juridical and Financial Questions

VATICAN CITY, MAY 18, 2007 (Zenit.org).- For the first time in five years, those responsible for negotiations between the Holy See and Israel will meet after Israeli representatives cancelled a March meeting at the last minute.

The meeting is planned for Monday in the Vatican, and will take place during the plenary session of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the state of Israel, an organization that last met in 2002, www.AsiaNews.it reported Thursday.

The Holy See's delegation will be headed by Monsignor Pietro Parolin, undersecretary for the Vatican Secretariat of State's Section for Relations with States, according to Vatican Radio.

The meeting will address negotiations on the "comprehensive agreement." Discussions will include the security of the Church's religious properties in Israel and the confirmation of historical tax exemptions, which the Church had at the time of Israel's establishment and that the United Nations ruled Israel must uphold.

This "comprehensive agreement" was mandated by the Fundamental Agreement, which Israel and the Holy See signed in 1993. Despite this agreement, negotiations since 1999 have had little progress.

"Writing a treaty of such complexity is a labor-intensive task, and, more than anything else, it requires time," Father David Jaeger, an expert in Israel-Holy See relations, told AsiaNews.

"There is no objective reason why the talks should not succeed," Father Jaeger added. "The Church is simply expecting further formal recognition of rights it has already acquired, as well as some fundamental guarantees for the legal security of her sacred places.

"It should cost Israel nothing to agree to this, and it would also be in accordance with public promises that Israel has made many times over the decades."

Code: ZE07051801

Date: 2007-05-18