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sible for the holy places, it must do
what it can to keep at bay any
power (such as the Soviet Union)
that would conceivably cut off holy
places from Christians.
Hence the Vatican is currently en–
gaged in a vigorous "Ostpolitik."
Large Roman Catholic populations
exist in the Communist world. A dé–
ten te between Communism and
Catholicism could strengthen its
eastern ties at the same time.
Of course the Vatican cannot, of
itself, guarantee the safety of those
holy places. However, a "papal pro–
tectorate" would be a powerful
moral
deterrent against any power
threatening to disrupt the flow of
pilgrim traffic to the holy land. The
Christian world simply could not
tolerate such an event.
The Vatican also seeks a long–
term rapprochement with the Or–
thodox churches. The Greek Ortho–
dox Church is one of the strongest
Christian churches (numerically) in
the entire Middle East. Greek Or–
thodox agreement to let the Catho–
lic Church safeguard Christian
places of worship in Jerusalem
would greatly aid the ecumenical
movement.
And there can be no denying that
J erusalem itself, a city so in–
extricably woven into New Testa–
ment theology and church history,
~
offers a tantalizing lure. Taking care
~:~
the Greek Orthodox clergy as the
crusade progressed. He planned to
use the war to facilita te an 11 tb cen–
tury brand of ecumenism.
In caUing for a Christian holy
war, Urban saw a chance to subor–
dinate the unruly secular powers of
Western Europe lo a larger papal
purpose. Urban hoped he could re–
gain ground lost to worldly in–
fluences and to control their
energies for the good of the Church.
At the time of the crusades, the
Church sutfered bitter disputes
within itself. Political control of the
papacy loomed as a major dispute
of the day. The popes had to con–
tend with Roman city potentates,
to protest the exclusion of Jews from
their holy places from 1947 to 1967,
when 01d Jerusalem was in Jordan–
ian hands. The Catholic Church will
have to overcome this obstacle if it
is to gain good re1ations with Israel.
But there are those in Israel who
hope that Rome can play a role.
Considering the Vatican's contacts
with the Arabs, any friendship Te!
Aviv can cultivate with Rome ap–
pears desirable. The Vatican's for–
eign contacts are extensive; its
presence ostensibly benign. It would
seem to be the ideal mediator for
settling the problem of the holy
places. The Vatican is perhaps the
only power involved that can afford
Many Roman
Catholics around
the world feel a
strong emotional
attachment to
Palestine's Christian
holy places.
of the holy places could lead to a
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much greater influence of the Calh–
olic Church on Protestan! Christian–
ity if Rome were to become more
and more identified with Jerusalem.
Once Before
In 1071 , the Turkish Seljuks cap–
tured Syria and Palestine from the
Falimid Caliphs of Cairo and began
to persecute Christians. The Turks
cut off pilgrim traffic to the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre. That act un–
leashed a series of bloody crusades
which !asted sorne 300 years.
In 1095, Urban II called for a
papal army to take the Church of
the Holy Sepulcbre in Jerusalem.
There is sorne indication thal he
intended lo recognize and restore
PLAIN TAUTH May 1974
foreign invasions and powerful Ger–
man emperors. Successive pontiffs,
hard pressed to maintain their polit–
ical authority, saw in a crusade the
opportunity to consolidate their po–
sitions vis-a-vis the rest of Europe.
Similar forces that coalesced into
the medieval crusades a re extant
today. The Vatican is beset with tur–
moil as
it
was nine centuries ago.
Only this time, the turmoil is inter–
na!. The Church needs the boost of
a diplomatic victory of intemational
political importance.
Old Wounds Healed?
Many in Israel are under–
standably upset that Rome did little
to be flexible enough to satisfy
everybody.
A Roman Catholic administration
of Jerusalem's Christian holy places
would be much more than a mere
caretaker operation.
lt
would repre–
sen! the symbolic introduction of a
third party into the Middle East and
would promise sorne of the same
results as a superpower imposed
solution but with none of the
trappings of Soviet involvement.
It
would dramatically enhance the
Vatican's prestige as a "peace keep–
iog" institution while at the same
time acting as traditional Christen–
dom's voice in a turbulent re–
gion.
O
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