Israel-Holy See Agreement "Possible Before December"
Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy, has said his government and the Holy See are “very close” to signing an agreement that has taken nearly 20 years to reach.
"There has been great progress on the fiscal part, we are very close to the definitive signing,” Lewy told reporters yesterday. "The next meeting [of the bilateral commission] is in December but that doesn’t mean the signing cannot be done even before then."
Last month we reported that the long-running talks aimed at reaching an accord on outstanding issues related to the 1993 Fundamental Agreement had reached their “final stage.”
Vatican Insider’s report is the latest to confirm that an agreement could be about to take place. If so, it would allow Church institutions in Israel, which care for the many holy sites and carry out extensive humanitarian work, to operate without fear of crippling tax penalties and other legal and economic restrictions.
"I am very confident about the possibility of closing the agreement soon,” Lewy said, “as I am not the only one to say it, but so, too, are Vatican sources."
He said “progress really took place only recently,” adding that remaining unresolved legal issues are “not substantial.” Lewy, popularly known as "motti", said he briefed Pope Benedict XVI on the developments when he paid him a farewell visit last week.
As part of the improved relations, Israel recently lifted restrictions on visas for diplomatic passports of the Holy See.
Pave the Way Foundation, a non-sectarian organisation that strives to bridge gaps between religions, intervened twice to help restart the talks, in 2003 and 2006, after they became deadlocked. Its Jewish founder, Gary Krupp, told me recently the two parties are the “closest they’ve been to reaching an agreement since 1994.”
He added: “The compromise is very good from what I understand, because ecclesiastical and Church facilities are not going to be taxed, but there are entities that are for-profit that should be taxed.”
Such optimism of an agreement has been voiced many times before, so it's perhaps best to keep celebrations on hold for now, but it does seem as though this time it's different.
Lewy, an historian and prolific author, is credited for some of the progress, as is Archbishop Antonio Franco, the outgoing papal nuncio to Israel.
Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.
