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Israeli and Vatican representatives expect to resume stalled negotiations in mid-February on a series of thorny issues regarding the legal and financial status of church institutions in the Holy Land.
The meeting will come a month after Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote two sharply worded letters complaining of an apparent “lack of commitment” on the part of the Israeli government in their negotiations with the Vatican.
In his letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, posted on the USCCB Web site, Bishop Skylstad asked the U.S. government to intervene with Israel to help get the talks moving again.
In December, Vatican delegation members said they were astonished when, at the last minute, the Israeli government canceled a meeting aimed at finalizing taxation issues for church entities. The members voiced frustration with the on-again, off-again pace of the talks.
A scheduled Vatican-Israeli meeting in mid-January was postponed for a month, a development that the Vatican did not necessarily see as negative.
“The government changed and the new ministers need time to study the issues. Various ministries are involved, and these are complicated issues,” said one informed Vatican source.
The Vatican’s hope is that the Israeli representatives will arrive in February fully briefed and ready to do serious negotiating – something that has not happened so far, they say.
Negotiations could include a number of issues, including property tax exemptions for convents, monasteries and other church institutes; the right of due process in Israeli courts over church property disputes; and a definitive resolution of Israeli visas for foreign church personnel.
An Israeli source downplayed the differences. He said the Israeli government feels it needs to be careful about the negotiations, but that all the issues are resolvable.
For the church, the taxation issue is a priority.
“How close are we to agreement? As close as an Israeli decision to say yes. It all depends on the government of Israel, whether it decides to abide by its international obligations,” said one church source, who cited the traditional tax-exempt status of church institutions in the Holy Land.
The issue of juridical due process is tied to an Israeli legal interpretation under which disputes concerning church property are considered outside the jurisdiction of Israeli courts and are to be decided by the government. In the Vatican’s view, this goes against the fundamental principles of the rule of law.
Bishop Skylstad’s Jan. 13 letter to Rice was unusually specific and pointed about these issues.
“The exercise of arbitrary taxation policies by the government of Israel against church properties and the government’s denial of access to due process through Israeli courts to settle property disputes violates international law and the history of the prior rights of the church,” Bishop Skylstad wrote…"
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500514.htm
The meeting will come a month after Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote two sharply worded letters complaining of an apparent “lack of commitment” on the part of the Israeli government in their negotiations with the Vatican.
In his letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, posted on the USCCB Web site, Bishop Skylstad asked the U.S. government to intervene with Israel to help get the talks moving again.
In December, Vatican delegation members said they were astonished when, at the last minute, the Israeli government canceled a meeting aimed at finalizing taxation issues for church entities. The members voiced frustration with the on-again, off-again pace of the talks.
A scheduled Vatican-Israeli meeting in mid-January was postponed for a month, a development that the Vatican did not necessarily see as negative.
“The government changed and the new ministers need time to study the issues. Various ministries are involved, and these are complicated issues,” said one informed Vatican source.
The Vatican’s hope is that the Israeli representatives will arrive in February fully briefed and ready to do serious negotiating – something that has not happened so far, they say.
Negotiations could include a number of issues, including property tax exemptions for convents, monasteries and other church institutes; the right of due process in Israeli courts over church property disputes; and a definitive resolution of Israeli visas for foreign church personnel.
An Israeli source downplayed the differences. He said the Israeli government feels it needs to be careful about the negotiations, but that all the issues are resolvable.
For the church, the taxation issue is a priority.
“How close are we to agreement? As close as an Israeli decision to say yes. It all depends on the government of Israel, whether it decides to abide by its international obligations,” said one church source, who cited the traditional tax-exempt status of church institutions in the Holy Land.
The issue of juridical due process is tied to an Israeli legal interpretation under which disputes concerning church property are considered outside the jurisdiction of Israeli courts and are to be decided by the government. In the Vatican’s view, this goes against the fundamental principles of the rule of law.
Bishop Skylstad’s Jan. 13 letter to Rice was unusually specific and pointed about these issues.
“The exercise of arbitrary taxation policies by the government of Israel against church properties and the government’s denial of access to due process through Israeli courts to settle property disputes violates international law and the history of the prior rights of the church,” Bishop Skylstad wrote…"
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0500514.htm