THE Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised to a Palestinian pastor, the Revd Dr Munther Isaac, for refusing to fulfill him earlier this month.
Dr Isaac is the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, in Bethlehem, and has been one of the crucial outstanding Palestinian Christian voices calling for a ceasefire within the Israel-Gaza war (News, 30 November 2023). He has referred to the war as a genocide, and Israel as a coloniser guilty of apartheid.
The Archbishop’s decision was described as “appalling” by members of Christians for Palestine — UK in a letter in tomorrow’s Church Times, which went to press on Wednesday evening. “Dr Isaac speaks prophetically, with moral authority and clarity. In contrast, the Church of England’s position on Gaza has been equivocal and misguided,” it says.
On social media on Thursday morning, Archbishop Welby wrote: “Recently I declined to fulfill with Rev Dr Munther Isaac during his UK visit. I apologise for and deeply regret this decision, and the hurt, anger, and confusion it caused. I used to be fallacious not to fulfill with my brother in Christ from the Holy Land, especially right now of profound suffering for our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters. I look ahead to speaking and praying with him next week.”
In a reply, Dr Isaac wrote: “Thank you Archbishop Justin Welby. I welcome this statement, and I look ahead to meeting next week as brothers in Christ.”
It was Dr Isaac’s decision to handle a pro-Palestine rally in London on 17 February, an event also attended by the previous Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, which prompted the Archbishop to withdraw from plans to fulfill. He had been advised that meeting Dr Isaac would caused significant problems for the Jewish community.
Members of the Jewish community have described how the rallies which have gathered in London in recent months — gathering a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals — have been a explanation for fear and anxiety (News; 17 November; 1 December 2023).
Dr Isaac told The Guardian that the Archbishop’s decision was “shameful. It’s not my style of Christianity to not be willing to fulfill one other pastor since you don’t want to elucidate why you met him. This sums up the Church of England. They danced around positions and ended up saying nothing. They lack the courage to say things.”
Addressing the rally, Dr Isaac quoted from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for justice, for they shall be satisfied.” Those gathered were “on the correct side of history”, he said. “We either side with the logic of power and ruthlessness and with the lords of war, or with the oppressed.”
During his visit, he delivered the address at a vigil, “Christ Under the Rubble”, organised by Embrace the Middle East, Sabeel-Kairos, and Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church. He was scathing concerning the response of many Christians to Gaza. Palestinian Christians had been crying out, “Where is the Church?” he said.
“Honestly, we should always not be surprised. How over and over did we, as Palestinian Christians, experience rejection from the Western Church? How over and over were invitations sent to us to talk in global venues, after which these invitations were cancelled. Why? For fear of controversy. There are church leaders who’re willing to sacrifice us for the sake of avoiding the effort of getting to elucidate to outsiders why they’re meeting with us Palestinian Christians. They’d fairly not do this; so that they don’t invite us. They don’t meet with us. They sacrifice us for comfort. It happened for me even on this trip. . .
“Over my life I’ve met many individuals, and I met many individuals who ended up becoming influential — either church leaders, and even politicians, in very influential positions. When we first met them, they were with us, they understood, they were for justice: ‘We will do all the pieces for you.’ But along the best way, as they change into increasingly vital and influential, they sacrificed Palestine. . .
“I’m drained and fed up of church leaders who share with me behind closed doors in confidentiality that they support us 100 per cent, but that they’re confined in what they’ll say in public.”
He warned: “Many Christians love to cover behind charity, to appear to be good ones, while being silent when the genocide is going on. Piety, religiosity, true spirituality means the energetic participation in loosing the bonds of injustice, undoing the straps of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, and breaking every yoke.”
Dr Munther attracted international attention after an infant Christ swaddled in a keffiyeh and lying amid stones was placed within the crib scene at his church (15 December, 2023). “If Jesus were born today, he could be born in Gaza under the rubble,” he said.
Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, and Israeli retaliation, the Archbishop’s response been criticised by Palestinian Christians (News, 27 October 2023). Among the complaints was a claim that “domestic British ecumenical and political considerations” had been prioritised within the Archbishop’s pronouncements on the conflict, on the expense of an “accurate recognition and implementation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people normally, and of the Anglican Palestinian community particularly”.
The Archbishop has called for a ceasefire (News, 17 November 2023). He has also expressed deep concern about rising anti-Semitism within the UK (News, 4 December 2023). This included a recorded meeting discussing the issue with the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, during Mr Corbyn’s time as leader of the Labour Party (News, 14 September 2018).
He has also been criticised by Jewish leaders, nevertheless. In December 2021, the Board of Deputies wrote to complain a couple of newspaper article that he co-wrote and that said that Christians within the Holy Land had change into the goal of “frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups” (News, 31 December 2021).
