Special - 1, 2000
“Watchman,
what of the night?”
"The hour has come, the
hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
The hour has come, the hour is
striking, and striking at you,
the HOUR and the end.
Ezekiel 7:5-6 (Moffatt)
SUMMARY
Page 7
Editor's Preface
It was not our intent to publish special issues of
WWN during this year. However, when we received The Jerusalem Post
(NA Edition) for February 25, and read the
headlines - "PLO-Vatican pact riles Israel" - and the
article which followed, we knew that a "Special
Issue" was necessary. The article by the Post Staff noted certain
key provisions and objectives of the pact as well as criticisms against Israel
for "lack of freedom in the Old City." The preamble to the agreement
declared that an "equitable solution" based on international
resolutions is "fundamental for a just and lasting peace." It
declared that "unilateral decisions and actions altering the specific
character and status of Jerusalem are morally and legally unacceptable."
Clearly, it was an intrusion into the final-status negotiations between Israel
and Arafat which was to include the status of Jerusalem. Calling as it did for
"international guarantees," it resurrected the position of the Vatican
in a letter to the United Nations Security Council, June 30, 1980. The Charge d'Affairs of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See
asked that the Pope's "speech" to the then President of the United
States, Jimmy Carter and published in
Osservatore
Romano, June 30, 1980, be circulated as a document of the Security Council,
and it was (Document S-14032). The heart of this special issue will be the
reproduction of this document in full so that the objective of the Vatican's
"Jerusalem policy" can be seen in its full import.
Other factors involving Arafat, as well as a
"secret" concession formulated by Foreign Minister Peres under the
Rabin government will be reviewed. All in all, we ask, Is
not this present action by the Papacy verily a "Wake-up" call telling
us that the final movements of this world's history are in progress. Soon
"Michael shall stand up" (Daniel 12:1).
At the bottom of each page of the document, we shall
place notations, either with other facts, or comments on certain statements in
the document itself. Page 7, will be a summation with Scriptural
references and comments.
Page 2
| UNITED NATIONS |
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S/14032 30 June 1980 |
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GENERAL
S/14032
30 June 1980
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH/FRENCH
The attached letter dated 30 June 1980 from the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations was addressed to the President of the Security Council.
In accordance with the request contained therein, the letter is circulated as a document of the Security Council.
Annex I
Letter dated 30 June 1980 from the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the
Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations
Addressed to the President of the Security Council
On instructions from His Eminence the Cardinal Secretary of the State of His Holiness, I have the honour to request you to circulate as a Security Council document the attached text published in the 30 June issue of Osservatore Romano, which reflects the position of the Holy See concerning Jerusalem and all the Holy Places. The English translation, which was made from Italian, may be regarded as authorized.
(Signed) Monsignor Alain LEBEAUPIN
Chargé d’Affaires a.i.
Page 3
Text on the question of Jerusalem published by the
Osservatore Romano (30 June 1980)
JERUSALEM
In his speech to the President of the United States of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter, on Saturday 21 June 1980, the Holy Father spoke of Jerusalem in these terms: “The question of Jerusalem, which during these very days attracts the attention of the world in a special way, is pivotal to a just peace in those parts of the world, since this Holy City embodies interests and aspirations that are shared by different peoples in different ways. It is my hope that a common monotheistic tradition of faith will help to promote harmony among all those who call upon God.”
In His Holiness’s words we find reference to permanent historical features (the “common monotheistic tradition of faith”), to present facts (the “interests and aspirations that are shared by different peoples”), and to a “hope” for Jerusalem (that “harmony among all those who call upon God” may be promoted in Jerusalem, in the Middle East and throughout the world).
History and contemporary reality
Throughout the centuries Jerusalem has been endowed with deep religious significance and spiritual value for Christians, Jews and Moslems.
The Holy City is the object of fervent love and has exercised a constant appeal for the Jewish people, ever since David chose it as his capital and Solomon built the temple there. Within it much of the history of Judaism took place, and the thoughts of the Jews were directed to it down the centuries, even when scattered in the “diaspora” of the past and the present.
There is no ignoring either the deep attachment of the Moslems to Jerusalem “the Holy”, as they call it. This attachment was already explicit in the life and thoughts of the found of Islam. It has been reinforced by an almost unbroken Islamic presence in Jerusalem since 638 A.D., and it is attested by outstanding monuments such as the Aksa Mosque and the Mosque of Omar.
______________________________________________________
Within
a month to the day, July 30, 1980, the Israeli Knesset enacted "Basic Law:
Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel. The first three provisions read:
1. Jerusalem, complete and united is the capital of Israel.
2. Jerusalem is the seat of the President of State, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court.
3. The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other
violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the
members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their
feelings towards those places.
This
"Basic Law" placed the government of Israel on collision
course with the objectives of the Vatican as were revealed in this UN Security
Council document.
Page 4
S/14032
English
Annex II
Page 2
There is no need to point out that Jerusalem also belongs
spiritually to all Christians. There the voice of Christ was heard many
times. The great events of the redemption, the passion, death and
resurrection of the Lord, took place there.
It was there that the first Christian community sprang up, and
there has been, even if at times with great difficulty, a continuous
ecclesiastical presence. Numerous shrines indicate the places connected
with Christ’s life and, ever since the beginnings of christianity, there
has been a constant flow of pilgrims to them. Saint Jerome is one of the
most illustrious witnesses to the Christian presence. In the picture of
the world presented by Dante Alighieri in his Divina
Commedia Jerusalem
is seen as the centre of the earth.
At present all three communities, the Christian, the Jewish and
the Moslem, are part of the Holy City’s population and are closely
linked with its life and sacred character. Each community is the
“guardian” of its shrines and holy places. Jerusalem has a whole network
of organizations, reception centres for pilgrims, educational and
research institutes and welfare bodies. These organizations have great
importance for the community they belong to and also for the followers
of the same religion throughout the world.
In short, the history and contemporary reality of Jerusalem
present a unique case of a city that is in itself deeply united by
nature but is at the same time characterized by a closely intertwined
religious plurality. Preservation of the treasures of the significance
of Jerusalem requires that this plurality be recognized and safeguarded
in a stable concrete manner and therefore publicly and juridically, so
as to ensure far all three religions a level of parity, without any of
them feeling subordinate with regard to the others.
The religious communities of Jerusalem
and the international community
The three religious communities of Jerusalem, the Christian, the
Jewish and the Moslem, are the primary subjects interested in the
preservation of the sacred character of the city and should be partners
in deciding their own future. No less than the monuments and holy
places, the situation of these communities cannot fail to be a matter of
concern for all. As regards the presence of the Christians, everyone is
aware of the importance, both in the past and still today, not only of
the Catholic community with its various rites, but also of the Greek
Orthodox, the Armenian and the other eastern communities, not forgetting
the Anglican groups and others springing from the Reformation.
_________________________________________________
Note
the designation of "three religious communities," and that they
"should be partners in deciding their own future." Further, that
along with "the monuments and holy places," "these
communities" must be "a matter of concern for all."
The
Jerusalem Post indicated that the Papacy and Arafat signed "an
agreement that called for an internationally guaranteed statute to preserve
'the proper identity and sacred character' of the city.
[This
language means more than just 'the monuments and holy places']
The text did
not mention Israel, which considers Jerusalem its indivisible capital and has
ignored previous Vatican calls of such a statute." The Foreign Ministry of
Israel considers the agreement as "an interference
in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians." The
Director-General told the Papal Nuncio to Israel that not only were the
contents of the document disturbing but that the timing was
"deplorable" just before the Papal visit to the area.
Page 5
S/14032
English
Annex II
Page 3
This “juridical safeguard” corresponds, in substance, to the
“special statute” that the Holy See desires for Jerusalem: “this Holy
City embodies interest and aspirations that are shared by different
people”. The very universalism of the three monotheistic religions,
which constitute the faith of many hundreds of millions of believers in
every continent, calls for a responsibility that goes well beyond the
limits of the States of the regions. The significance and value of
Jerusalem are such as to surpass the interests of any single State or
bilateral agreements between one State and others.
Furthermore, the international community has already dealt with
the Jerusalem question; for instance, UNESCO very recently made an
important intervention with the aim of safeguarding the artistic and
religious riches represented by Jerusalem as a whole, as the “common
heritage of humanity”.
____________________________________________
While
The Jerusalem Post indicated Israel "had ignored previous Vatican
calls for a statute" as outlined on pages 3 and 4 of
Annex II, above and
on
p. 6 of this Special issue, this is not wholly accurate. Under the
government of the late Prime Minister Rabin, his foreign minister, Peres, in a
meeting with the Pope in 1994, presented a plan to "Vaticanize"
the Old City of Jerusalem placing it under "the auspices of the Pope"
and "administered by the Palestinians" (The Jewish Press,
Nisan 14, 5755). Previously, in
a letter carried by a friend of Peres to
the Pope, Peres "offered to hand over sovereignty of Jerusalem's Old City
to the Vatican. Jerusalem is to stay the capital of Israel, but the Old City
will be administered by the Vatican. ... The plan called for the
extra-territoriality of the Old City and the airport at Atarot,
which would become a worldwide meeting center. ...
Further details of the plan
claim Jerusalem is to become a second Vatican of the world with all three major
religions represented under the authority of the Vatican" (ibid.,
Sept. 2, 1994, pp. 5, 104). All of this was echoed in the original
Vatican policy submitted in the UN Security Council document above, and now
made a part of a pact between the Vatican and Arafat. It remains to be seen
what the present Prime Minister will do in the final phase of negotiations
concerning Jerusalem when confronted with this pact. He has declared that
Jerusalem will not be divided, and will remain the capital of Israel.
Page 6
S/14032
English
Annex II
Page 4
THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION AND JERUSALEM
As early as its second session, the General Assembly of the United Nations approved on 29 November 1947 a resolution on Palestine of which the third part was devoted to Jerusalem. The resolution was confirmed in the next two sessions, on 11 December 1948 and 9 December 1949 while on 14 April 1950 the Trusteeship Council approved a “special statute” for the city on the basis of the Assembly’s decisions. The solution proposed by the United Nations envisaged the setting up of a “corpus separatum” for “Jerusalem and the surrounding area”, administered by the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations.
This “territorial internationalization” of Jerusalem was not of course put into effect, because in the 1948 conflict the Arab side occupied the eastern zone of the city and the Israeli side, the western. The position of the United Nations does not appear at least as yet to have formally revoked. The General Assembly, as well as the Security Council, has repeatedly, beginning with the resolution of 4 July 1967, insisted on the invalidity of any measure taken to change the status of the city.
The Holy See considers the safeguarding of the Sacred and Universal character of Jerusalem to be of such primary importance as to require any Power that comes to exercise sovereignty over the Holy Land to assume the obligation, to the three religious confessions spread throughout the world, to protect not only the special character of the City, but also the rights connected, on the basis of an appropriate juridical system guaranteed by a higher international body.
In his address to President Carter, the Holy Father referred to the fact that the question of Jerusalem “during these very days attracts the attention of the world in a special way”.
The positions of the two sides on the question of sovereignty over Jerusalem are known to be very far apart; any unilateral act tending to modify that status of the Holy City would be very serious. The Holy Father’s hope is that the representatives of the nations will keep in mind the “common monotheistic tradition of faith” and succeed in finding the historical and present day reality of Jerusalem reasons for softening the bitterness of confrontation and for promoting “harmony among all those who call upon God”. The aim will be to ensure that Jerusalem will no longer be an object of contention but a place of encounter and brotherhood between the peoples and believers of the three religions and a pledge of friendship between the peoples who see in Jerusalem something that is part of their very soul.
____________________________________________
The
coming visit of Pope John Paul II to Israel needs to be monitored closely. After the "urgent meeting" called by the Director-General
of the Israeli Foreign Ministry with the Papal Nuncio to Israel, the Nuncio
told reporters that the agreement was not fully understood by Israel. He
said, "It is not a political statement, but one about the religious nature
of Jerusalem and its importance to three major religions." Yet Israel was
not mentioned, and at the meeting between the Pope and Arafat, the Pope
accepted an invitation of Arafat to add Jericho to his scheduled itinerary.
This is solely political, placing the Pope squarely on the side of Arafat.
Page 7
SUMMARY
The year, 1980, not only marked the complete fulfilment of the prophecy of Jesus concerning the
probation of the nations, but also the objectives of the Papacy were set forth
in a Security Council document which prepares the way for the fulfilment of another prophecy which when fulfilled will herald
the close of all human probation. Jesus, from Olivet's mount during the last
week of His earthly life, declared of the city across the Kidron
Valley, wrapped in the light of the paschal moon, would be "trodden down
of the nations (Gr.), until the times of the nations (Gr.) be fulfilled"
(Luke 21:24). The Knesset of Israel on July 30, declared Jerusalem, complete
and united," once again the capital of Israel.
One month earlier, June 30th, the Holy See lodged
with the Security Council of the UN a document which reflected 'the position of
the Holy See concerning Jerusalem and all the Holy Places." The
stipulations when carried out would set the stage for the final prophecy of
Daniel 11:45 - "And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between
the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none
shall help him." In February, this last year of the second millennium, the
Holy See signed a pact with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat which will
set in motion the fulfilment of its objectives. The
next verse in Daniel reads - "And at that time shall Michael stand
up" (12:1).
There is another prophecy which focuses on the same
time period. In Revelation 16:13-14, 16, the reason is given for the sixth
plague. It reads:
And I saw three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of
the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For
they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great
day of God Almighty. ... And they (Gr.) gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.
(Note: Each plague save one - the
third - is God's response to what man did in probationary time. For example,
the first plague, "grievous sores upon men who had the mark of the
beast" (16:2). The mark of the beast was received before the close of probation, the plague followed its close. Just so the sixth
plague - verse 12 is the description of the plague, verses 13-14, 16, the cause
in probationary time.)
"Har-Magedon" (ARV) transliterates back to
the Hebrew, Har-Mo'ed, "mount of the congregation."
This coincides with the objective of Lucifer, to "sit also upon the mount
of the congregation, in the sides of the north" (Isa. 14:13); in other
words, the glorious holy mountain" (Dan. 11:45; Ps. 48:2).
An interesting use of Rev. 16:13-14 is found in
The Great Controversy, pp. 561-562.
Defining these verses as describing "the last remnant of time," the
comment is made:
Except those who are kept
by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept
into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled into a fatal
security, to be awakened only by the out pouring of the wrath of God.
If language means anything, it is saying that the "gathering" of Revelation 16, is synonymous with the "planting" of Daniel 11:45. "At that time shall Michael stand up."
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