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Catholic World News News Feature

Some progress in Vatican-Israel negotiations January 30, 2007

After a 3-hour negotiating session with Israeli diplomats, representatives of the Holy See reported “some progress” toward a pact ensuring the legal and financial status of Church institutions in Israel.

The discussions held January 29 represented the first negotiating session this year; the last such talks took place in December 2006, and produced no substantial progress.

Vatican officials have been frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations on a juridical-financial pact: an agreement that was promised under the terms of the “fundamental accord” that led to Vatican recognition of Israel in 1993. Israeli officials had virtually abandoned the talks, and returned to the negotiating table in 2004 only under heavy diplomatic pressure from the United States. Since that time, Israeli diplomats have repeatedly said that an agreement is imminent, while Vatican representatives have been less optimistic about the prospects for a quick accord.

After this week’s talks, Archbishop Antonio Franco, the apostolic nuncio in Israel, remained cautious about the outlook for an agreement. “The media often speak of Israeli sources, and the will to reach an agreement as soon as possible,” he observed. “In reality, it appears that this objective is still far away.”

Father David Jaeger, a Franciscan priest who has been involved in the negotiations, told Vatican Radio that the January 29 talks took place in “an atmosphere of great cordiality.” But he, too, refrained from predicting success.

The next negotiating session is scheduled to take place in Rome. That meeting, Father Jaeger said, will “tell us what we need to know” about the likelihood of an accord.