Pope shuns using armored car in Israel, Jerusalem Catholics complain of security

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By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS
05/18/2014 15:02
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Members of Latin parish in capital say imposing curfew on streets of Christian
Quarter attempt by "occupying power to deny our existence."

Pope Francis I Photo: Reuters
Pope Francis will not avail himself of bullet-proof vehicles during his three day trip to
the Middle East and insisted on using normal cars to allow him to be as close as
possible to the people, the Vatican said on Thursday.
The pope wants an open pope-mobile and a normal car. The local security official took
the desire of the pope into consideration, said chief spokesman Father Federico
Lombardi.
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I dont think there was too much discussion about that, he said, hinting that local
security officials had suggested the use of bulletproof vehicles but were over-ruled.
Francis predecessors were driven in bulletproof limousines on their trips, whether
just around Rome or abroad.
Heads of state visiting the Middle East tend to use bulletproof cars.
Francis instead uses a blue Ford Focus in Rome and at his own request, during his
trip to Brazil last July was driven around Rio de Janeiro in a small silver Fiat.
Lombardi also said the Vatican was not overly concerned by threats to Christians
scrawled by suspected Jewish extremists on church property in the Holy Land.
The decision is however expected to further complicate security arrangements for
the pontiffs trip, causing the closure of more roads and requiring a greater distance
to be kept from the popes motorcade.
Police Chief Yohanan Danino on Sunday met with the Vaticans ambassador to Israel,
Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, to discuss security preparations.
More than 8,000 officers will be involved in security details, with a wide range of
operational units involved.
Separately, a group of Christians in Jerusalem wrote to Lazzarotto, saying that
Israeli security forces were trying to deny them their legitimate right to greet
their spiritual leader.
Agenzia Fides, a Christian missionary information service said that Jerusalem
Catholics recently sent a letter to Lazzarotto, the apostolic delegate in Jerusalem
and Palestine, in advance of the popes pilgrimage to the capital.
According to Fides, the initiative to write to Lazzarotto was launched by members of
the Latin parish of St. Savior in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The letter claims that Israeli security will hinder meeting the pope in Jerusalem, and
attempts by the Israeli occupation to impose a curfew on the streets, including the
Christian Quarter, during the visit is yet another attempt by the occupying power to
deny our existence.
The letter writers refer to themselves as the indigenous Jerusalem population and
descendants of the first Christians.
It is unacceptable for the Pope to pass along the narrow streets of the Christian
quarter, yet find [it] devoid of any signs of life and the faithful, the letter reads.