Jesuit Father David Neuhaus on ‘Prophetic Role’ of Churches in Israel/Palestine

 

By Terence Creamer – Just as Pope Francis’s voice has been prophetic in drawing attention to the plight of those living in Gaza during the military bombardment that followed the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, the minority Christian community of Israel/Palestine could be prophetic in modelling an alternative future for the territory based on equality and respect.

This was the view expressed by Jesuit Father David Neuhaus during a virtual conversation on the current situation in Gaza, hosted by Fr Russell Pollitt SJ of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, in Braamfontein.

Fr Neuhaus is a Johannesburg-born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism in his 20s, He currently lives in Jerusalem as an Israeli citizen, while also ministering and teaching in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He praised Pope Francis as being a voice of “sanity and humanity” ever since October 8.

Even during Pope Francis’ ongoing health crisis, the Holy Father has sought to sustain his nightly phone calls to fellow Argentine Father Gabriele Romanelli, the parish priest at Holy Family in Gaza City, and Fr Romanelli’s assistant, Yusuf Asad.

These calls, Fr Neuhaus said, have not only been a powerful symbol of compassion and solidarity, but have also provided the pontiff with better insight regarding conditions in Gaza than was the case for most other world leaders.

“On Gaza, thank God, we have a voice that has spoken out clearly and with great constancy, from October 8, calling war madness and demanding that the world wakes up to the situation of the Palestinian people.”

The curia, by contrast, had been more cautious and had typically taken its lead from the international community, opting for diplomacy over “playing a more prophetic role”.

The outlook for Palestinians has not improved, Fr Neuhaus said, despite the precarious ceasefire, with ongoing military action and violence in the West Bank.

There is also a sense of growing despair among Palestinians in light of President Donald Trump’s much-criticised statements regarding a US takeover of Gaza and permanently removing Palestinians from the narrow strip of land that borders the Mediterranean Sea.

Nevertheless, Fr Neuhaus believes that the local Church in Israel/Palestine still has an opportunity to play a prophetic role of its own, by nurturing Christian institutions that are currently open to everyone.

“This will sound something familiar to South Africans, when we remember the role of the Church during the apartheid era,” the priest said.

“And again here, I think that we must be very conscious of this and nurture it with all our might, so that we can, through our small, fragile Christian institutions, give an image of what this country is called to be: one where people are actually living together, respecting one another,” Fr Neuhaus explained.

In so doing, the local church could help formulate a language of equality, while outlining the “contours of what could be”.

“The time has come to change our discourse and really start to realise that the big question is not two states, but the question of equality,” he said.

“Do the people who live in this land have equality? Do they have the right to live? Is their human dignity respected as a person, whether they are Palestinian, whether they are Israeli, whether they are Jewish, Christian or Muslim.”

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