In 1993 Pope John Paul II moved the Vatican to recognize Israel as a state, with the understanding that the judicial aspects of property held by the Church within Israel could then be settled. Meetings between the two parties began in 1994 and have been held regularly since.  Sixteen years have gone by and no agreement has been reached.

            The following news item is reprinted from Asia News, Dec. 24, 2009. A day after an Israeli delegation met in Rome with Vatican officials to discuss ownership issues relating to Christian holy sites in Israel and the occupied territories, AsiaNews’ Arieh Cohen reported the talks were a “failure” and the negotiations were “in crisis.”

            The online editor of the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth on December 11 quoted deputy minister of foreign affairs, Daniel Ayalon, as saying: “It is absolutely possible to say that there is a certain crisis. It is true that we have decided not to cause a rupture, and to agree to disagree, at this stage. However, after the meeting, there is a feeling that we have gone back, and that, in effect all the conclusions that were reached by working teams before the meeting have been cancelled.”

            Israeli intransigence over ownership of the Cenacle, or the Upper Room where Jesus held the Last Supper, and its opposition to giving the Church control over various churches and sites near the Sea of Galilee and in Nazareth, led to the breakdown of the talks, according to Yedioth Aharonoth.

            “The deputy foreign minister is reported to have told the newspaper correspondent that those Church properties do have to be confiscated, because they are ‘needed for public infrastructures, such as roads and sidewalks.

            “Sources of the Church of Israel explained to AsiaNews that at issue are in fact the Holy Places that witness to the life and ministry of Jesus, such as Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee and the Shrine of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which the Church wishes to safeguard, precisely so that they are not confiscated and made into ‘roads and sidewalks’.” (Wanderer, Dec 24, 2009).  Meantime the Vatican continues to issue re-assuring press releases as it did on Feb 14, 2010, the latest meeting of Vatican and Israeli representatives. It said “the talks were purposeful and held in an atmosphere of great cordiality.” (Zenit.org, Feb 14.10).