South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, March 25, 1994 Page: 2 of 8
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2-MARCH 25. 1994
| SECOND FRONT \
SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC
Praying not always easy in the Holy City
JERUSALEM (CNS) — In Old Jerusalem, a city where
the churches, temples and mosques of three religions crowd
in upon each other, praying is not always easy.
Jews found this out in early March, when the Western
Wall — the focus of Jewish spiritual activity — was closed
for security reasons for the first time.
Many local Muslims hoping to pray in the adjacent A1
Aqsa Mosque at the end of the Ramadan holiday were
likewise disappointed when Israeli authorities, fearing dis-
ruptions, made it impossible for most of them to reach
Jerusalem.
The minority Christian population and pilgrims have it
better, but this year’s renewed political tensions tlireaten
once again to put a damper on Easter celebrations. In the
place where Jesus lived and died, the Palm Sunday proces-
sion and Easter week have been low-key affairs for several
years.
The politics of prayer in the Holy City reflects the larger
difficulties that beset Jerusalem: Israeli-Palestinian antago-
nisms, uncertainty about civil rights, and overlapping terri-
torial claims.
The religious element came to the fore in the aftermath of
a Jewish settler’s slaying of 30 Muslims at prayer in a
mosque in Hebron, 40 miles away.
As one measure against any further violence, Israeli
police began stopping Jews at the old city’s Dung Gate and
forcing them to give up personal weapons before proceeding
to the Western Wall for prayer. A lot of guns were tempo-
rarily surrendered.
Many Jews considered it a sacrilege when authorities
briefly closed the wall in early March, following an episode
of Palestinian rock-throwing from the A1 Aqsa site above.
On the morning of March 16, tensions had not disap-
peared. In the sunny open space in front of the wall, be-
decked with Israeli flags and ringed with police, Jews
washed their hands in fountains before praying. Suddenly
police began shouting orders to clear the area, and the
nervous faithful watched from a distance as a bomb squad
arrive. It was a false alarm; 20 minutes later, the praying
resumed.
The stones of the holy city can themselves become the
object of contention: A1 Aqsa, one of Islam’s most sacred
places, stands on Temple Mount, on the ruins of the ancient
Jewish temple built by Herod the Great. Some Jewish groups
have vowed to recover the site, beginning with the Western,
or Wailing, Wall, where Jews lament the temple’s destruc-
tion.
Christian pilgrims who wander the streets of Jerusalem
may not notice all of this, but they are involved in a lesser
squabble that has been simmering for years: the debate over
who should be allowed to guide them to the holy places.
Here, too, part of the issue is where prayer and spiritual
Cmchita
She has nothing to give up for Lent
-» yreet Conchita. She lives in
JVLa small village in the
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experience fit into modem Jerusalem.
Israel licenses only its own guides — almost all of them
Jewish. While church leaders are careful to point out that
there are many fine and respectful Israeli guides, the excep-
tions tend to stand out in memory. One Catholic recounted
the shocked reaction of pilgrims upon hearing from their
Israeli tour leader that the empty tomb was proof that Jesus
had not really died on the cross.
On a recent Sunday, an Israeli guide stood with a U.S.
group next to the tomb site in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. After reciting his brief lecture, he added point-
edly: ‘That was 2,000 years ago. Yesterday, two of your
Christian priests were murdered in Egypt — by Muslims."
Leading pilgrims to prayer, naturally enough, is not on the
Jewish guides’ agenda. But the church has pointed out that
pilgrims do want a spiritual experience, not just “religious
tourism."
In response to the Israeli tour guide policy, the church
decided to commission its own “spiritual animators" for
pilgrim groups. This was contested, but the Israeli High
Court of Justice ruled in the church’s favor. Today, some
2,000 specially trained priests and lay people are allowed to
lead the groups on pilgrimage.
The problem now is that some Israeli guides have objected
to the church groups straying away from strictly religious
sites. Both sides filed complaints over the issue with the
tourism ministry in January.
Eventually, the church wants local Palestinian Christians
to be able to function as legitimate tour guides. The church-
run Bethlehem University runs a special institute to train
future guides.
"So far they haven’t received permission to work from
Israel. But 60 percent of tourists who come to the Holy Land
come to Bethlehem, so that monopoly may have to be
broken," said Brother Ronald Gallagher, vice chancellor of
the university.
Most Christian pilgrims leave Jerusalem pleased with
their visit and impressed with the holy places, according to
local church officials. But personal prayer and reflection
sometimes have to be squeezed into a heavy group itinerary.
“Pilgrims run where Jesus walked,” said one Catholic
involved with the groups. “A lot of people leave here saying,
i wish we'd had more time to pray.’’’
He said the church is trying to change that through its
program of animators, and is starting to achieve results.
Self-image key to
black success, says
Father Clements
DAYTON, Ohio (CNS) — If there are too few successful
African- American males, Father George H. Clements says
it is because their parents and peers did not give them a
strong sense of self-worth as they were growing up.
“No black child should be told anything other than the fact
that he is the most precious object on the face of this earth,”
Father Clements said. He spoke Feb. 26 at the Second
Annual African-American Male Conference at the Univer-
sity of Dayton.
Father Clements, long a leading figure in Chicago’s black
Catholic community, received national attention in 1981
when he was the first priest to adopt a son.
He subsequently adopted three more boys and founded
"One Church, One Child,” a nationwide program to find
black adoptive parents for black and biracial children. The
program, which has been responsible for more than 40,000
adoptions in 39 states, is based on getting each local congre-
gation to commit itself to at least one such adoption among
its members.
“You must instill asense of self-worth in those babies that
you are going to generate on this planet," Father Clements
said.
“So I tell you now. Stop all this foolishness of talking
down our people. Stop! Do not let your children hear
anything but something positive about them, ’ he continued
“Tell them who they are and where they came from... and
tell them to forget about being athletes and entertainers, will
you please?”
Father Clements, 62, spoke about his own experiences
growing up in a black ghetto on Chicago s South Side and
studying hard to succeed at an all-white seminary.
“1 discovered the secret of the white man," he told his
audience of about 250, most of them African-American
male students. "From infancy, they tell their kids how
important and how valuable they are. They teach their
children that they are first-class citizens of the United States
and that they are expected to become leaders and take charge
of this sovereign nation.”
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Riley, Anthony J. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, March 25, 1994, newspaper, March 25, 1994; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth856151/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .