News

U.S. bishop says Jews have no `exclusive right' to Israel

by Francis X. Rocca
October 25, 2010

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A special Vatican meeting on the Middle East ended Saturday (Oct. 23) with a flare-up in Catholic-Jewish tensions, after an American bishop declared the Bible does not give Jews privileged rights to the land of Israel.

"We Christians cannot speak of the `promised land' as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people," said Archbishop Cyril Bustros, a native of Lebanon who is currently a Melkite Greek Catholic bishop in Newton, Mass.

"This promise was nullified by Christ," Bustros said at a Vatican press conference marking the end of a two-week session of the Synod of Bishops. "There is no longer a chosen people -- all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people."

Bustros' remark drew swift and strong rebukes from Israeli spokesmen.

"The comments of Archbishop Bustros reflect either shocking ignorance or insubordination in relation to the Catholic Church's teaching on Jews and Judaism," said Rabbi David Rosen, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee and an adviser to Israel's Chief Rabbinate.

Rosen, who addressed the synod in its first week, said the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s affirmed "the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish People, which is inextricably bound up with the land of Israel."

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called Bustros' statement "a libel against the Jewish people and the State of Israel," and expressed "our disappointment that this important synod has become a forum for political attacks on Israel in the best history of Arab propaganda."

"The synod was hijacked by an anti-Israel majority," Ayalon said.

The two-week meeting, which was attended by 185 bishops, most of them from the 22 "Eastern Catholic" Churches loyal to Rome, focused on the precarious plight of 5.7 million Catholics in 16 Middle Eastern countries.

The synod's closing document deplored both Palestinian suffering as a consequence of the "Israeli occupation," and the "suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live." It also reiterated a frequent theme of synod participants by calling for "religious freedom and freedom of conscience" in Muslim lands.

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Comments

Anonymous replied on Permalink

jews the chosen nation

a testimony that the jews are the chosen nation, is there very existence. they endured every possible reason for them not be around, yet they exist and thrive, yet all there enemies have faded and fell, lets not make the same mistake as our predecessors. but to recognize the big picture of g-ds plan. as they are the people that are mentioned in the bible thousands of times synonymous with the land of Israel, any other sentiment is pure hatred that doesn't belong in the world today.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

His Popeness

Why do we not hear his popeness crying out against such a statement? But given this specific popes history it's no wonder a former member of the Hitler youth is an anti-semite.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

ISRAEL A NATION...

the bible is the only authority ... God said that israel will one day be a nation again ...its GOD who said it ... not a roman catholic bishop or whatever he calls himself......who does he think he is ? my GOD lives and tells israel that it will be a nation ....hey guess what ? GOD WINS AGAIN....HE ALWAYS DOES.......
PEOPLE NEED TO BELIEVE GOD AND NOT man

Anonymous replied on Permalink

His Popeness

Why do we not hear his popeness crying out against such a statement? But given this specific popes history it's no wonder a former member of the Hitler youth is an anti-semite.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

The Bishop's is ignorant of the Bible

The Bishop, who interestingly is a lebanese Arab by birth either is ignorant of the Bible or like many lebaneses muslims or christians alike is full of hatred toward the people and the land of Israel. It is not suprising to see the infiltration of the Synod by arab bishop who dares to challenge the well known Biblical fact about the historic right of the jewish people to the land of Israel. Such idology exists in some other cultic religeous circles and is labeled as "replacement theology". It is sad to see such ignorance to come out of the catholic church and increase the already frigile relationship the catholic church has with the jewish nation.
Kassahun Liben

Anonymous replied on Permalink

Catholic are not christians.......

The vatican priest is so wrong this is the battle of darkness and the kingdong of God in this earth. to start the Catholic church is not Christian they don't have the right to the title because they don't teach the TRUE, CHRISTIANS ALL OVER THE EARTH KNOW ABOUT THE ETERNAL covenant between God and the Jewish People. AND WE STAND BY GOD WORDS NO BY A LIER CATHOLIC PRIES. THEY TEACH ONLY LIES. What we have here is the beguining of the true revelation of the DARK Catholic churck againt ISRAEL. BECAUSE THE CATHOLIC CHURCK DOESN'T TEACH THE TRUE. EVERYONE WHO IS AGAINT ISRAEL IS AGAIN GOD. SORRY DON'T FULL NO ONE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE MOTHER OF ALL THE RELIONS, JESUS IS LOVE I'M NOT A JEW I'M FOR JESUS OUR GOD AND THE TRUE, HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUE AND LIFE.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

RC Teaching

The RC Church early on (incidentally by a Jew called Paul) got these old Jewish fables and tales which supposedly be the Gods word and Jews to be Gods people incorporated into the Bible and now a Bishop with a straight mind speaks sense and the hell breaks loose.
The Pope should find the courage (I am bet he will not) to rid the Bible form the old stories and tales from another time. How much more prove to we need to know that living by them brings only destruction and the spread of ignorance. Look at the mindset of Ovadia Yosef and find out.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

God's Word!

I guess that the Pope and the Roman Catholic Bishops think that they are above God and His Word! Maybe they need to spend some time Reading God's Word instead of trying to usurp it!

Romans 9:27-28 declares: “And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “’Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; for the Lord will execute His Word upon the earth, Thoroughly and Quickly!’” Has God Cast Away the Nation of Israel?

There are many today that are claiming that God has cast away the Nation of Israel. Those who claim such things apparently do not Read or Believe the Word of God, for that thinking does not come from God’s Word! Instead God declares Here and Elsewhere in His Word that He has NOT Cast Away Israel! When God declared His Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 13:15 He declared: “For ALL the Land which you see, I will Give It to YOU and to YOUR DESCENDANTS ‘”FOREVER!’” Now What does the Word FOREVER Mean? It Means Just What It SAYS and IS: “FOREVER!” God’s Covenant with Abraham was an “ETERNAL” Covenant dependent entirely upon God and God Alone and NOT Upon Any Man or People!

Israel HAS a GOD GIVEN RIGHT To Her Land, As well as Much of the Land the Arabs Now Control! It is NOT up to Any Individual, Group of People, Government or Governmental Bodies to tell Israel to Give Up Her Land! GOD Has Already Decided, and He will BLESS Those who Stand By Israel and Israel‘s Right To Their Land, and GOD will CURSE ALL who Come Against Israel!

Anonymous replied on Permalink

The Abrahamic Covenant

The "church" age is an intercalation ushered in by the death of Christ. When the full number of believers is achieved, the age of Israel will once again begin. It will be as if the church age was never here. This will coincide with Daniel's 70th week, a horrific period of judgement for Israel and the nations that will last for 7 years. The true King of Israel will sit upon the throne of His father David and will rule the world from Jerusalem, and the nations shall serve Israel. True and everlasting peace will be brought by the Messiah, not negotiations.

Anonymous replied on Permalink

Justice and UN jusstice- Parody

NOT A PARODY- UNFORTUNATELY IS THE REALITY
Justice and Un justice- Christian tradition treatment of Jews.

Justas is: Destroying the independent Israel by the Roams because they want to keep their freedom and religion.
Justas is; Enslaving and deporting many Jews from the ancient Israel.
Justas is; Chasing and killing Jews that didn’t accept to convert to Christianity .
Justas is: Imposing limitation on professions Jews may practice.
Justas is: The mass murderous Crusades.
Justas is: The Inquisitions.
Justas is: The Ghettos all over Europe.
Justas is; Expelling Jews several times from many European countries.
Justas is: Pogroms killing Jews from England up Russia.
Justas is: The Papal silence during the holocaust.
Justas is: Arresting the Jew survivals from the Nazi extermination caps and closing them in concentration camps in Cyprus by UK.
Justas is: THE CHRISTIANS HAVE PROBLEMS THEY CANNOT SOLVE?
SOLUTION: BLAME THE JEWS.
----
Unjust is: The renew of Israel independence in their homeland of the 3500 years continuous - one culture- one religion- one nation.
(No one of the Christian and Muslim countries have such a record)
!!!! They should continue to benefit from Christian and Muslims good will !!!!

Justas is: THE CHRISTIANS HAVE PROBLEMS THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO SOLVE WITH THE MILITANT ISLAM?

Christians are chased out and repressed all over the Muslim countries?
A Turk Muslim tried to assassinate a Pope?
Lets go back to the old tradition:

DIVERT PEOPLES ATTENTION FROM THE MANIN PROBLEM- BLAME THE JEWS.
The Christians elite analyzed the rezones that lead to many crimes, and are in a process of corrections by laws and teaching.

Unfortunately there are some Christians that are still locked in the old tradition:
A solution for all the problems is :Blame the Jews

Anonymous replied on Permalink

Archbishop Bustros misrepresents and distorts the Catholic faith

Archbishop Bustros' statement is completely opposed to the authentic Catholic faith. The Church's official position regarding God's election of the Jewish people is the following:

"When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God." The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ", "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 839)

Ariel Ben Ami, Catholics for Israel (www.israelcatholic.com)

Anonymous replied on Permalink

Abp. Bustros reflects accurately..

the understanding of the Catholic Church from the very beginning of the Christian era.. Nothing he said was out of line with what the New Testament and the Church have always taught, Though, of course, it offended some Jewish leaders. I say, "So what?" Let them be offended. Being carfeful to avoid offending Jewish leaders should not be at the top of a Christian's list of priorities.