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The Christians of the
entire world demanded their legitimate rights, as they are an
essential
part of the Jerusalem’s
population. They ask for full freedom of access to its Holy Places
and freedom of worship.
Rights that they have acquired throughout history such as: property
ownership, custody and
worship. Those rights are already protected in the Status Quo of
the Holy Places
according to documents should continue to be recognized and
respected.
The Christians have the
right to come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
They ought to be able to
find there all that is necessary to carry out their pilgrimage in
the
spirit of their
authentic tradition: freedom to visit and to move around, to pray at
holy sites,
to embark into spiritual
attendance and respectful practice of their faith, to enjoy the
possibility of a
prolonged stay and the benefits of hospitality and dignified
lodgings.
The local Christian
communities should enjoy all those rights to enable them to continue
their active presence in
freedom and to fulfill their responsibilities towards both their own
local members and toward
the Christians pilgrims throughout the word.
Local Christians, not
only in their capacity as Christians per se, because Jerusalem is
the
place of roots, ever
living and nourishing, but like all other citizens, religious or
not, should
enjoy the same
fundamental rights for all: social, cultural, political and
national.
Among these rights
are:
- The human right of
freedom of worship and of conscience, both as individuals and as
religious communities.
- Civil and historical
rights which allow them to carry out their religious educational,
medical
and other duties of
charity.
- The right to have
their own institutions, such as hospices for pilgrims, institutions
for the
study of the Bible and
the traditions, centers for encounters with believes of their
religions,
monasteries, churches,
cemeteries, and so forth, and the right have their own personnel
and run these
institutions. |
