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Article: Vatican puts holy sites before people, he says. (Elias Chacour, a Melkite priest from Galilee laments the irony of the dwindling number of Palestinian Christians in the major place of Christian shrines)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- October 31, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Special to the National Catholic Reporter
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The "cold stones of the Holy Land" mean more to Vatican officials and many tourists than the lives of the dwindling population of Christians who live there, a prominent Melkite priest from Galilee has charged.
That harsh assessment came from Fr. Elias Chacour, on the last leg of a three-stop visit to the United States in late September. He claims that diplomatic ties between the Vatican and Israel, established in 1994, were aimed primarily at maintaining Rome's access to holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee.
Chacour was a featured speaker at an event in Dallas sponsored ...