Holy Places

Holy places are often scenes of conflict among not so holy people. A recent publication examines this phenomenon:  Marshall Breger et al, eds., Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics (Routledge, 2012), 352pp.

About this book the publisher tells us: 

Religion and religious nationalism have long played a central role in many ethnic and national conflicts, and the importance of religion to national identity means that territorial disputes can often focus on the contestation of holy places and sacred territory. Looking at the case of Israel and Palestine, this book highlights the nexus between religion and politics through the process of classifying holy places, giving them meaning and interpreting their standing in religious and civil law, within governmental policy, and within international and local communities.

Written by a team of renowned scholars from within and outside the region, this book follows on from Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence to provide an insightful look into the politics of religion and space. Examining Jerusalem’s holy basin from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, it provides unique insights into the way Jewish, Christian and Muslim authorities, scholars and jurists regard sacred space and the processes, grass roots and official, by which spaces become holy in the eyes of particular communities. Filling an important gap in the literature on Middle East peacemaking, the book will be of interest to scholars and students of the Middle East conflict, conflict resolution, political science, urban studies and history of religion.

The Church in the Middle East

I have earlier and frequently drawn appreciative attention to the work that Anthony O'Mahony has been doing to make the plight of Christians in the Middle East (and particularly Jerusalem) better known, the state of relations between Eastern Christians and Muslims, and the state of Eastern Christianity in the Middle East in general.

Now he has edited a recent collection examining The Catholic Church in the Contemporary Middle East: Studies for the Synod for the Middle East (Melisende, 2010), 368pp.

About this book, the publisher tells us:

The Synod of Bishops Special Assembly for the Middle East called by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome in 2009 is a significant event for the Catholic Church in the Middle East. The Synod is also, however, an important event for the wider Christian Church (both in the region and in the West) and for the Christian tradition as a whole. The Conference, ‘The Synod for the Middle East: Catholic Theological and Ecclesial Perspectives’, 9-11 June 2010, held at the Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London, from which the papers in this volume originated, was organized with the intention of making a fraternal engagement with the preparations for the Synod, seeking to honour the importance of the event.

As stated by Archbishop Louis Sako in his Foreword: ‘The Middle East is the cradle of Christianity; Christianity was born in Palestine and rapidly spread to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt. The Churches of the Middle East are repositories of ancient Christian traditions: Syrian, Copt, Greek, Armenian, Latin and Arabic. Their liturgy, spirituality, monasticism and ecclesiastical discipline and canons have great importance for the whole Church. … In time Christians in the diaspora will lose their Eastern identity through integration into Western society and culture, and this is a significant challenge for all the Eastern Christian Churches.’

Christianity and Jerusalem

Anthony O'Mahony of Heythrop College in the University of London is a most prolific fellow whose scholarship largely focuses on relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He's recently edited (and written introductions and articles for) three substantial collections, all published in the last 18 months, all dealing with Christianity in the Middle East. The first to be noted here is:

A. O'Mahony, ed., Christianity and Jerusalem: Studies in Modern Theology and Politics in the Holy Land (2010), 326pp. 

This is a very ecumenical collection whose contributors offer a wide-ranging overview of many aspects of Christian life in Jerusalem, historically and currently. As Stephen Need, dean of St. George's College in Jerusalem, notes in an article in the current issue of Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies,  the future for Christians does not look good given recent trends of many Christians leaving or having very small families. Need will review this book for Logos in the fall of 2011. The book addresses itself to a variety of issues:

• Christianity in modern Jerusalem
• Jewish-Israeli views on Christianity and Christians
• Hebrew Catholicism in modern Israel
• the Vatican, Israel, Palestinian Christians and Jerusalem
• the Intifada and Palestinian Christian identity
• Palestinian Christians and liberation theology
• the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - Church-State politics in the Holy Land
• indigenisation and contextualisation: the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches 
• Jewish fundamentalism
• Jewish-Muslim encounters
• Jerusalem, the Holy City: a possible way to share Jerusalem in peace
• Contributors include: Anthony O'Mahony, David Mark Neuhaus SJ, Leon Menzies Racionzer, Drew Christiansen SJ, Leonard Marsh, Sotiris Roussos, Michael Marten, Nur Masalha, Rob Johnson, et al