Diocese of Jerusalem Consecrates Nazareth Pastor to Succeed Kafity
Episcopal News Service. January 17, 1996 [96-1350]
J. Martin Bailey, Acting Director of the Middle East Council of Churches office in Jerusalem
(ENS) Jerusalem's gothic Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr swelled with music and liturgy as Episcopalians and Anglicans gathered on Epiphany Sunday, January 6, to consecrate the Ven. Riah Hanna Abu El-Asssal of Nazareth as the third Palestinian bishop to serve the diocese.
Riah, who served Christ Church in Nazareth for 27 years, is expected to succeed Bishop Samir Kafity when he retires in 1998.
Five American bishops were among the 15 bishops from around the world who surrounded Riah as he received the symbols of his office from Kafity. Muslim, Druse and Jewish religious leaders were among the honored guests.
A dominant theme at the consecration service was the search for a just peace in the Holy Land, a deep personal concern for the new bishop who with his family became refugees when the state of Israel was formed in 1948. In his sermon, the Rev. Canon John Peterson of London, general secretary of the Anglican Communion Office, declared that the church must speak clearly on the critical issues of justice and peace for the peoples of the Middle East. He called on Riah "to speak not only for your own people, but for all voiceless people of the world -- be they Sudanese, Rwandan, Burmese or whomever."
Riah was deeply involved in the peace process before the current negotiations began. In 1985, after he founded the Palestinian Progressive Movement for Peace, he traveled to Tunis to encourage PLO President Yasser Arafat to negotiate with the Israelis. For his behind-the-scenes role in early peace efforts, Riah was invited to attend the Oslo ceremonies at which the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to Arafat, the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
This spring Riah's book, "Caught in Between," will be published in London. It is a description of how Arabs with Israeli citizenship witness to their faith and seek to retain their Palestinian identity.
Asked about his personal goals and dreams, Riah identified "a comprehensive and just peace in which Palestinians enjoy freedom and equal rights on the land, side-by-side with Israelis. He is an advocate for an eventual confederation of both Palestine and Israel, in a strong belief that "both peoples would benefit."
As bishop in Jerusalem, Riah said he hopes to work for a common date for Easter -- Christians now celebrate two -- and a single Christmas celebration -- there are now three. "I hope to see Christians celebrate their great feasts together in my lifetime," he said. As a signal of his ecumenical spirit, he left St. George's shortly after his own consecration to attend Greek Orthodox Christmas services in Bethlehem. President Arafat also participated in that liturgy.
Another of Riah's personal goals is to strengthen the church in the Holy Land by encouraging Christians who emigrated to return to Palestine. "With full appreciation for the partnership of other churches around the world, I want to see our church become self-supporting," he said. "I want to work for a Christian aliyah -- the return of persons whose roots are in this land." In 1991 Riah described that dream to Pope John Paul II, urging that Catholics join in "a new strategy for Christian presence in the Holy Land, a presence based on living stones."
Riah, who headed for a career in medicine or education, was pulled into the church as a young man when the church in Nazareth lost its pastor. He served as lay minister for four years and decided to become a priest. He studied at Bishop's College in Calcutta and eventually at United Theological College in Bangalore, India, where his ecumenical commitments were nourished.
He traces his devotion to the church to the piety of his paternal grandmother, a sister of Simon Azar Srouji, an Arab Christian now being considered by the Vatican as a possible second Palestinian saint.
The American bishops who participated were Art Williams of Ohio, representing Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning; Keith Ackerman of Quincy; G. Bob Jones of Wyoming; Stewart Wood, Jr. of Michigan; and H. Coleman McGehee, former bishop of Michigan. The archbishop of Canterbury was represented by Bishop Robin Smith of Hertford. Bishop Naim Nasser represented the historic relationship between Anglicans in Jerusalem and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan, with offices in Jerusalem.
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