Aid to the Church in Need: Holy Land: Inter-faith expert barred from Papal meeting

Holy Land: Inter-faith expert barred from Papal meeting

Posted by Press Release on 18/5/2009, 11:08 am
Board Administrator

ACN News: Monday, 18th May 2009 – HOLY LAND

Why was he barred?
Outrage as inter-faith expert is denied attendance at Papal meeting

By John Pontifex

THE leader of a centre dedicated to promoting inter-faith dialogue in the Holy Land has made a formal complaint after the organisation’s co-founder was prevented from attending a meeting led by Pope Benedict XVI.
Professor Thiab Ayyoush, a leading expert on Christian-Muslim relations, had received a personal invitation from the Church authorities to be present at an inter-faith conference in Jerusalem due to receive an address from the Pope.
But, according to Dr Geries Khoury, director of the Bethlehem-based Al-Liqa Centre for inter-faith dialogue, the Israeli authorities refused to give Prof Ayyoush a permit to travel from the West Bank to Jerusalem to take part in the meeting held on Monday (11th May).
In an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Dr Khoury said that in response he will be writing a formal letter of complaint to be taken up by the Apostolic Nuncio, the Catholic Church’s top diplomat in the region.
Dr Khoury, who himself attended the meeting, stressed the importance of Professor Ayyoush’s contribution to Muslim-Christian understanding as the author of a series of leading texts and as the holder of many key positions including president of the National University in Bethlehem.
Speaking yesterday (Thursday, 14th May) by telephone from Bethlehem, Dr Khoury told ACN: “We were very sorry that that Professor Ayyoush was not able to be there.
“Many of the local clergy and Muslims were very sad that he was not allowed.
“I was especially surprised that no justification was given for the refusal to grant him the permit. I can’t understand it.”
Dr Khoury stressed the pioneering nature of Prof Ayyoush’s work, especially with the Al Liqa centre, which receives key funding from ACN.
Prof Ayyoush, a Muslim, was key to the establishment of the Al-Liqa Centre in 1982 and which now organises initiatives including study days, lectures, youth activities and conferences aimed at deepening awareness and cooperation where possible.
He described how, after repeated refusals to grant the permit, an emergency meeting was held at the Al Liqa Centre at which Prof Ayyoush was clearly “very upset and nervous”.
Dr Khoury said that the complaint letter he planned to write would be sent to the Apostolic Delegate church officials in Jerusalem for referral to the Israeli authorities.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 130 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 46.5 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: http://www.aidtochurch.org

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