 |
Archbishop
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of
Jerusalem, speaks to the press in Jerusalem on December 20, 2017
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The
Catholic Church’s top official in Jerusalem on Wednesday criticized Donald
Trump's controversial recognition of the city as Israel's capital, saying it
damaged Christmas celebrations and led to hundreds cancelling trips.
AFP report continues:
Archbishop
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of
Jerusalem, said "dozens" of groups had pulled out of planned visits
after being scared off by the announcement and subsequent clashes.
He
added that the heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem would find it
difficult to accept an official request by US Vice President Mike Pence to
visit the city's holy Christian sites in January, calling for him to
"listen more" to other Christians.
"Of
course this created a tension around Jerusalem and this diverted attention from
Christmas," Pizzaballa said of Trump's December 6 decision.
"After
this there are some tensions in Jerusalem, Bethlehem also. This scared many
people, so we've had less people than expected."
He
stressed, though, that they would continue with planned Christmas celebrations.
Trump's
recognition of Jerusalem, breaking with decades of US policy on one of the most
complicated issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been met with
near-daily protests across the Palestinian territories.
Pizzaballa,
the most senior Roman Catholic official in the Middle East, stressed the church
was opposed to "unilateral" decisions on the future of Jerusalem.
Pence
was supposed to visit Jerusalem this week, but it was delayed until January.
Pence's
team cited key votes on US tax reform as the cause of the delay.
Christian
leaders across the Middle East had said they were no longer willing to meet
with Pence, an evangelical Christian, following Trump's decision.
Asked
whether Pence could visit the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of
Jesus's crucifixion, and other Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, Pizzaballa
said it would be a "problem" if he wanted to come on an official
visit.
"We
cannot say no to pilgrims, we are religious, we cannot say no to someone, even
if he is the bigger sinner in the world," he said.
But
if Pence requests an official visit, "sometimes we cannot neglect the
political consequences or political aspects," he said without elaborating.
He said Pence should "listen more. No one has a monopoly on Jesus, not even the Evangelicals."
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