PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 147

The Patriarch
Michel Sabbah, 86 years old
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was founded in
the fifth century and, during the Crusades, from 1099
onwards, it played an important role as the legal repre-
sentative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Many
centuries of inactivity followed before it was reinstated in
1847 by Pope Pius IX, who was anxious to re-establish
a canonical ecclesiastical institution in Jerusalem and
appointed Monseigneur Joseph Valerga as patriarch of
the Latin Church in Jerusalem. With the consent of the
Ottoman government, the jurisdiction covered Palestine,
Transjordan and Cyprus.
Speaking all the languages of the region, including
Syriac, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and Chaldean, this
man, barely 37 years old, would, during the 25 years of
his episcopate, restore to the Catholic minority its prestige
in the region. This presence was considerably diminished
during the First World War, but picked up again during
the British mandate, from 1920 until 1947. The Latin
Patriarchate of Jerusalem today remains one of the most
influential Christian jurisdictions.
In 1987, the ecclesiastical institution took the unprec-
edented step of appointing a non-Italian to the patriar-
chate: Michel Sabbah, a Palestinian Christian, became
the first Arab patriarch of Jerusalem and served for 21
years, until 2008. Patriarch in a country at war, he never
stopped publicly defending the Palestinians, and calling
for a just peace in Palestine.
Today, Patriarch Michel Sabbah receives his guests at
the Brigittine Sisters Convent on the Mount of Olives.
A small track leads to a large green wrought iron gate.
The voice on the intercom is female. The gate squeaks as
it slowly swings open. Suddenly there is an abundance
of greenery; an alley leads through the trees, as if traced
with a paintbrush, to a building that overlooks the golden
domes of Jerusalem.
 I am from Nazareth in Galilee. In 1933, the
year I was born, Nazareth was a small town of 7000
people, both Christians and Muslims. Ours was a
large family, five boys and three girls. My parents were
born during the Ottoman Empire, and in 1920 they
found themselves living under the British mandatory
rule. We lived in peace. Our passports were written
in English, Arabic and Hebrew, but they were Pales-
tinian passports, the same for everyone, regardless of
their religion.
My father worked in the construction business, and
later he sold vegetables in the market. Sometimes, we
would go for a walk in the countryside as far as the
neighbouring kibbutz of Kfar Ha Horesh (“village of
the labourer”). Established in 1933, on land that had
been bought by the Jewish National Fund in 1930, the
kibbutz still exists today. There was gurgling spring
Michel
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