''I am afraid that what is happening
in the Holy Land is that we're losing
the presence of the Christian community,''

Cardinal McCarrick told me.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak...t-novak16.html
Historic Christian towns losing ground in Holy Land
February 16, 2006

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,
Roman Catholic archbishop of
Washington, D.C.,

is taking an increased
interest in the desperate
plight of Christians in
the Holy Land --

to the point of politely and
privately asking for help from
President Bush.

Immediately at stake is the
West Bank village of Aboud,

whose Christian roots go back two millennia,
and which now is threatened by Israel's
security barrier.

Aboud is the current object of
Israeli policy that has contributed
to heavy migration of Christian Arabs,
promising further reduction in their
present 1.7 percent share of Israel's
population.

Following previous security barrier
construction that effectively expelled
villagers from olive groves,

Israel in October 2005 ordered new
land confiscation to extend the barrier.

Aboud's 2,300 residents,
about half Christian and half Muslim,
are being deprived of their water
supply by the new construction.

''I am afraid that what is happening
in the Holy Land is that we're losing
the presence of the Christian community,''

Cardinal McCarrick told me.

As leader of his faith in the nation's capital,
he seeks friends on both sides of any political divide.

Accordingly,
the cardinal told me the West Bank's
Christians are endangered by Palestinians
(particularly since Hamas' election victory).

But there is no question for
the Holy Land Christian Society,
seeking to save their co-religionists,
that water-hungry Jewish settlers
benefit from the security wall.

Catholic sources divulged to me that McCarrick,
who recently had been called into the White
House to discuss foreign trade,

brought up the condition of the
West Bank Christians with Bush.

Acting as though he had heard
this for the first time,
the president turned to National
Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
and asked him to look into the
problem.

Jordan's Muslim King Abdullah earlier
this month met with members of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss
the plight of the Christians.

The Vatican has indicated
intensified interest.

But so far, there is no sign that
Hadley or anybody else in the Bush
administration has engaged this problem.

A Catholic contact with the White
House talked to Elliott Abrams,

the presidential aide
handling the Middle East.

Abrams responded that the
barrier is required for
Israeli security.

But U.S. intervention may be
needed to save the village of
Aboud,

which according to local tradition
received the Christian faith from
Jesus himself.

Christ is said to have preached
at the place in Aboud where the
ruins of the Messiah Church stand.

Jesus and the Holy Family would
have traveled the Roman Road,
near Aboud,

on the route between Jerusalem and Galilee.

The village's Orthodox church was
built in the 4th century under the
first Christian emperor of Rome,
Constantine.

Religious tradition, however,
does not deter Israeli policy.

The new barrier will confiscate
39 percent of the village's olive
fields and take over the aquifer
that supplies one-fifth of the
West Bank's total water supply.

In October,
construction uprooted 500 grapevines in Aboud.

Twelve kilometers of the barrier
will be built on Aboud's land,
and the villages of Al-Lubban
and Rantis also will lose more
territory.

All this is justified as protection
against terrorists, but the Holy Land
Christian Society rejects that.

''It is clear that the security
barrier is not about security but
the annexation of land for the
expansion of settlements in the
West Bank and Israeli control
over the water supply,''

argues a society paper.

Israeli settlements Beit Arye and
Ofarim were built on land taken
from residents of Aboud.

The problems of the Catholic and
Orthodox Christians of Aboud do not
resonate in American politics.

The evangelicals have signed a
blank check to Israel in the
interests of security in the
Middle East.

Of the many Roman Catholic members of Congress,
only the venerable Rep. Henry Hyde
(in the last year of his long career)
has shown much interest in the subject.

That is why Cardinal McCarrick's
involvement is encouraging for the
champions of Holy Land Christians.

He will visit the West Bank next
month and may meet with Karen Hughes,
under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy,
for the sake of a few Christians in an ancient city.

torresD wrote:


''I am afraid that what is happening
in the Holy Land is that we're losing
the presence of the Christian community,''

Cardinal McCarrick told me.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak...t-novak16.html
Historic Christian towns losing ground in Holy Land
February 16, 2006

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,
Roman Catholic archbishop of
Washington, D.C.,

is taking an increased
interest in the desperate
plight of Christians in
the Holy Land --

to the point of politely and
privately asking for help from
President Bush.

Immediately at stake is the
West Bank village of Aboud,

whose Christian roots go back two millennia,
and which now is threatened by Israel's
security barrier.

Aboud is the current object of
Israeli policy that has contributed
to heavy migration of Christian Arabs,
promising further reduction in their
present 1.7 percent share of Israel's
population.

Following previous security barrier
construction that effectively expelled
villagers from olive groves,

Israel in October 2005 ordered new
land confiscation to extend the barrier.

Aboud's 2,300 residents,
about half Christian and half Muslim,
are being deprived of their water
supply by the new construction.

''I am afraid that what is happening
in the Holy Land is that we're losing
the presence of the Christian community,''

Cardinal McCarrick told me.

As leader of his faith in the nation's capital,
he seeks friends on both sides of any political divide.

Accordingly,
the cardinal told me the West Bank's
Christians are endangered by Palestinians
(particularly since Hamas' election victory).

But there is no question for
the Holy Land Christian Society,
seeking to save their co-religionists,
that water-hungry Jewish settlers
benefit from the security wall.

Catholic sources divulged to me that McCarrick,
who recently had been called into the White
House to discuss foreign trade,

brought up the condition of the
West Bank Christians with Bush.

Acting as though he had heard
this for the first time,
the president turned to National
Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
and asked him to look into the
problem.

Jordan's Muslim King Abdullah earlier
this month met with members of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss
the plight of the Christians.

The Vatican has indicated
intensified interest.

But so far, there is no sign that
Hadley or anybody else in the Bush
administration has engaged this problem.

A Catholic contact with the White
House talked to Elliott Abrams,

the presidential aide
handling the Middle East.

Abrams responded that the
barrier is required for
Israeli security.

But U.S. intervention may be
needed to save the village of
Aboud,

which according to local tradition
received the Christian faith from
Jesus himself.

Christ is said to have preached
at the place in Aboud where the
ruins of the Messiah Church stand.

Jesus and the Holy Family would
have traveled the Roman Road,
near Aboud,

on the route between Jerusalem and Galilee.

The village's Orthodox church was
built in the 4th century under the
first Christian emperor of Rome,
Constantine.

Religious tradition, however,
does not deter Israeli policy.

The new barrier will confiscate
39 percent of the village's olive
fields and take over the aquifer
that supplies one-fifth of the
West Bank's total water supply.

In October,
construction uprooted 500 grapevines in Aboud.

Twelve kilometers of the barrier
will be built on Aboud's land,
and the villages of Al-Lubban
and Rantis also will lose more
territory.

All this is justified as protection
against terrorists, but the Holy Land
Christian Society rejects that.

''It is clear that the security
barrier is not about security but
the annexation of land for the
expansion of settlements in the
West Bank and Israeli control
over the water supply,''

argues a society paper.

Israeli settlements Beit Arye and
Ofarim were built on land taken
from residents of Aboud.

The problems of the Catholic and
Orthodox Christians of Aboud do not
resonate in American politics.

The evangelicals have signed a
blank check to Israel in the
interests of security in the
Middle East.

Of the many Roman Catholic members of Congress,
only the venerable Rep. Henry Hyde
(in the last year of his long career)
has shown much interest in the subject.

That is why Cardinal McCarrick's
involvement is encouraging for the
champions of Holy Land Christians.

He will visit the West Bank next
month and may meet with Karen Hughes,
under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy,
for the sake of a few Christians in an ancient city.


Holy land? look at those fruitcakes over their now. You must be joking.

"Nog" wrote in message
news:ksrJf.154$p02.117@trndny08...
torresD wrote:


''I am afraid that what is happening
in the Holy Land is that we're losing
the presence of the Christian community,''

Cardinal McCarrick told me.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak...t-novak16.html
Historic Christian towns losing ground in Holy Land
February 16, 2006

He will visit the West Bank next
month and may meet with Karen Hughes,
under secretary of state for Public Diplomacy,
for the sake of a few Christians in an ancient city.


Holy land? look at those fruitcakes over their now. You must be joking.

The only holy land is where your feet are right now.

BOfL