Joint Communiqué of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and Israel

VATICAN CITY – On June 4 – 5,  2013, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel had a meeting to continue negotiations on economic and fiscal matters of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Here below is the joint communiqué of the Commission.

Joint Communiqué

The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the State of Israel and the Holy See met today, 5 June 2013, at the Vatican, at the Plenary level to continue negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10 paragraph 2.
The meeting was headed by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States and by Mr. Zeev Elkin, M.K., Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel.
The Commission welcomed the two new heads of the delegations, and acknowledged the contribution of Ambassador Bahij Mansour to the negotiations and wished him success in his new position.
The negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The Commission took notice that significant progress was made and the parties committed themselves to accelerate negotiations on the remaining issues, and look forward to an expedited conclusion in the near term.
The Parties have agreed on future steps and to hold the next Plenary meeting by December 2013 in Jerusalem.

Delegation of the Holy See:
Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States
H.E. Arch. Antonio Franco, Apostolic Nuncio, Co-Chairman of the Working Level of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission
H.E. Arch. Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio in Israel
H.E. Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Patriarchal Vicar for Israel
Msgr. Maurizio Malvestiti, Under-Secretary of the Congregation for Oriental Churches
Msgr. Alberto Ortega Martín, Official of the Secretariat of State
Mr. Henry Amoroso, Principal Legal Adviser
Mr. Samir Abu-Nassar, C.P.A., Financial Adviser
Archimandrite Maher Abboud, Vicar General Greek-Melkite Archeparchy of Akko
Fr. Elias Daw, President of the Tribunal Greek-Melkite Church in Israel
Fr. Pietro Felet S.C.J., Secretary General of the A.O.C.T.S.
Fr. Ibrahim Faltas O.F.M., Custody of the Holy Land

Delegation of the State of Israel:
Mr. Zeev Elkin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Zion Evrony, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Holy See
Mr. Ehud Keinan, Deputy Director General, Legal Division (MFA), Co-Chairman of the Working Level of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission
Mr. Bahij Mansour, Director of the Inter-Religious Affairs Department (MFA)
Mr. Moshe Golan, Senior Deputy State’s Attorney responsible for Civil Law Matter, Ministry of Justice
Mr. Itai Apter, Department for International Agreements, Ministry of Justice
Ms. Karin Doseretz, General International Law Department, Legal Division (MFA)
Mr. Rony Tzuberi, Chief of Staff, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Gershon Kedar, Policy Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs