As the Presiding Bishop’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, I want to make it clear that the Episcopal Church stands with her full communion partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in denouncing in the strongest possible terms the recent Israeli occupation of the West Bank town of Beit Jala and the use of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation and an adjacent orphanage there as a military outpost.
As the Presiding Bishop’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, I want to make it clear that the Episcopal Church stands with her full communion partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in denouncing in the strongest possible terms the recent Israeli occupation of the West Bank town of Beit Jala and the use of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation and an adjacent orphanage there as a military outpost.
We ask the Israeli government immediately to remove troops and tanks from Beit Jala, particularly the area where the church and orphanage are located. The continued presence of military personnel there is a sacrilege.
Again, we implore both sides–the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel–to cease and desist from all acts of violence and intimidation. And we continue to support the deployment of international-including ecumenical and interfaith–observers to promote peace, justice and security in the region.
Finally and most importantly, we join our prayers–individually and by means of the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace–with those of the people of God everywhere for a return to a climate where negotiations to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can take place.
The Rt. Rev. Christopher Epting, Presiding Bishop’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
