The Holy See and Palestine have signed a historic agreement that supports a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land, based on the 1967 borders between Israel and Palestine.

The two parties signed the “Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine” at the Vatican June 26. The accord, which includes a preamble and 32 articles, focuses mostly on the status and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine. It assures the church “juridical recognition” and “guarantees” for its work and institutions in Palestine.

The second chapter of the agreement focuses entirely on freedom of religion and conscience and includes the right to worship and practice one’s faith, as well as the rights of Christian parents to give their children religious education, of Christians to take holy days off work, and of military personnel to have access to pastoral care.

The preamble recognizes the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, the importance of Jerusalem and its sacred character for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and the objective of a two-state solution.

At the signing ceremony, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, said he hoped the agreement would provide a “stimulus” for a “definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
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A dozen Saskatoon church leaders are calling on the federal government to establish an independent commission to implement aboriginal land and treaty rights.

The leaders signed a petition advocating First Nations land rights Thursday.

The petition is being circulated to faith groups across Canada and is part of the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative, a campaign dedicated to caring for and renewing the earth.

“The church leaders are concerned about the world, they are concerned about the fact that we have, as a country of Canada, places of injustice,” said Sister Anne Keffer of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.

“It is from our aboriginal neighbours and friends that we need to learn how to care for the earth and to listen. To achieve true healing of this wounded Canadian life, there’s work to do that requires the active co-operation of Canadians as a whole,” Keffer said.
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