US govt ‘strongly condemns’ arson attack on Church of All Nations
The embassy said that protection of religious minorities was critical, but praised Israel for the arrest of the individual believed to be responsible for the incident.
By JEREMY SHARONSpecial Mass in Church of All Nations on Sunday following arson attack on Friday. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa center.(photo credit: THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND)
The US government “strongly condemns” the recent arson attack on the Church of All Nations in Jerusalem, the US Embassy to Israel said on Monday in a statement to the press.The embassy said that protection of religious minorities was critical, but praised Israel for the arrest of the individual believed to be responsible for the incident.“The US government strongly condemns this and all attacks on places of worship. Freedom of religion, including protection of religious minorities, is a sacred value that unites us all and Jerusalem is a holy city for billions of people of different faiths,” the embassy said in its statement.“The Church of All Nations stands as a place of peace and welcome to visitors from around the world. We applaud the government of Israel’s quick action to identify and arrest the suspected perpetrator.”On Friday, a 49-year-old man poured a flammable liquid inside the church and ignited a fire, but was apprehended by a church guard and subsequently arrested by the police.Some damage was done to the church pews and a floor mosaic, but the fire was swiftly contained and further damage was prevented.The church is located on the Mount of Olives next to the Garden of Gethsemane, the site revered by Christians as the place where Jesus prayed before he was crucified.The Custody of the Holy Land, the official custodian of Catholic holy sites in Israel and the region, has also condemned the arson attack and decried the attack on the Christian holy site.“We condemn this awful deed, carried out in such a holy and beloved place to hundreds of millions of Christians in the Holy Land and around the world,” said the Custodial Curia following the attack.On Saturday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended the detention of the suspect, Yehoshua Alkobi, for four days until Tuesday.
The incident is now being investigated as a “nationalist” hate crime after initial investigations were begun on the basis that the incident was merely criminal.Alkobi’s attorney sought to argue that his client has a record of mental illness and that if he committed the arson attack it was due to his psychiatric problems.Judge Michal Hirschfeld presiding over the case decided however not to send Alkobi for psychiatric evaluation.On Sunday, a special mass was held in the church in the wake of the attack, attended by newly installed Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, head of the Custody of the Holy Land Father Francesco Patton, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, the Vatican’s ambassador to the Jewish state, Leopoldo Girelli.
