WASHINGTON — Fifty Catholic and Protestant leaders have appealed to President Bush on behalf of the dwindling Christian population in the Holy Land, who they say are under economic and physical assault from Israel. In a May 7 letter coordinated by the advocacy group Churches for Middle East Peace, the signers said “the endangered indigenous Christian population in the Holy Land could well disappear” unless Bush intervenes. “We need your help in convincing the Israeli government that thriving Christian institutions are vital to all of our interests and to the future of a secure Israel.”
The signers said denials and delays of visas for church workers are leaving social service agencies without “the spiritual and the professional staff that they need.” They also said an effort to tax humanitarian agencies may put many of them, including the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives, out of business.
The letter also said Israel’s “security wall … is damaging Christian institutions and the daily livelihood of individual Christians.”
Most of the signers were leaders of mainline Protestant churches; the others included heads of Eastern Orthodox churches, men’s and women’s Catholic religious orders and relief agencies.
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