“You live as if on a volcano that is about to erupt”

Father Nicodemus Schnabel © Stefanie Jarkel

Interviewer: How important are the bishops' visits for Christians in the Holy Land?

Father Nicodemus Schnabel (prior-administrator of the Dormitio Abbey in Jerusalem): I think they are enormously important. First of all, there are only two percent Christians in the Holy Land anyway, and these are then also divided into 50 denominations. So it is a very colorful Christian picture. There are the long-established, the Arabic-speaking Christians, and alongside them the many new Christians, migrant workers and refugees. That is, there is a lot going on. Christianity, after all, began in the Holy Land. At the beginning of the year, it is important to make it clear to world Christianity – as much as everyone loves Rome – that Jesus Christ was born, died and rose in the Holy Land. To keep looking at the roots of our faith, at the region of origin, is first of all good for world Christianity, and the small minority of Christians gets a kind of soul massage and feels that they are not forgotten.
Interviewer: What are the ies that are particularly pressing on the minds of Christians this year??
Father Nicodemus: There are an incredible number of ies. You have to distinguish which Christians we are talking about. On the one hand, there is the challenge for the Palestinian Christians who have lived there for centuries, who perceive that they are becoming fewer and fewer. This is, of course, due to emigration. They are often highly qualified and can emigrate. But they also have the fewest children. This is a very big factor in the demographic development of Christians. The feeling of the two huge majority religions, the big, strong Judaism and the big, strong Islam, convey to the Christians to sit between the chairs. We as foreign Christians, as "professional Christians" who live there, have the task to convey that they need not be afraid and do not fall into a "ghetto trap", nestle in as a small minority and close themselves off to the majority religions. Rather, we encourage to go out. That's a lot of psychological work, to break out of this spiral of fear and to go against the fears of becoming less and less interested in Christianity. Encouragement and strengthening is one challenge.

And then there is the very exciting challenge of the new Christians. Christianity is growing throughout the region, in Israel as well as in Palestine and the neighboring Arab states. But this is not necessarily based on voluntariness. On the one hand we have a refugee phenomenon. In Israel, there are many Christian refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia and South Sudan. In addition, there are countless migrant workers. Israel's social system would not function without the many Filipinas, Indians and Sri Lankan women, who are usually all Christians. But these are Christians who live on the edge of legality, semi-legally or completely illegally, and are often also victims of sexual, domestic violence. That is, there are very different challenges that we and the Christians in the Holy Land are facing. The bundle is enormous.

Interviewer: Bishop Ackermann was with us on the bishops' trip and said that it is getting more and more difficult to have a dialogue in the Holy Land every year. Do you experience this as well?
Father Nicodemus: It is always a question of which glasses you have on. First of all, I would agree with Bishop Ackermann, who is a really good connoisseur of the region and goes along every year and knows our abbey well. His expertise is definitely to be taken very seriously. He is also the chairman of the "Justitia-Et-Pax-Commission" in Germany. I agree with him that one perceives that far too many have lost the willingness and energy for dialogue. There is a certain fatalism. One has the feeling that one is living on a volcano that is about to erupt. But somehow it always goes on. Dialogue is exhausting. This also means to question oneself, to be curious about the other, to see beyond oneself and to approach the other. In this respect, I agree with Bishop Ackermann. This is dwindling overall. But I also perceive that on all sides there are always the heroines and heroes of everyday life who, despite everything, make a hopeful effort to remain in dialogue. I admit that I am someone who also likes to see just these tender little plants that give courage.
Interviewer: Bishop Ackermann also said that in the Holy Land you also have to develop a political attitude. Because the Vatican clearly supports a two-state solution. What does this mean for Christians in the Holy Land??
Fr. Nicodemus: This two-state solution is actually on the agenda of the Holy See and also of the European Union and also of Germany. It is an internationally common solution that one strives for. This is supposed to be a positive solution for both parties involved.
Interviewer: What would be positive about it for Israel and Palestine??
Fr. Nicodemus: Israel has a great need for security, which is more than understandable after the historical experience. Keyword "Never again Auschwitz". Israel says to itself, we want to live in a state that we will never be victimized again. They want secured borders.

On the other hand, we have the no less legitimate and justified need of the Palestinians for their own state in which they can live in freedom.

Interviewer: These ideas are, after all, very opposite…
Father Nicodemus: That's why I believe that these two great needs, the security needs of Israel on the one hand and the Palestinian need for freedom on the other, are best accommodated in a two-state solution. Thus there would be two states in secured borders, in which two peoples can develop freely. Especially from the Israeli perspective, the character of a Jewish and democratic state would be preserved. For the Palestinians, in the sense of the right of self-determination of peoples, a separate state territory would be created. By the way, the Holy See has always been an advocate of the right of every state and people to have their own territory.
Interviewer: New U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to station the U.S. ambassador to Israel in Jerusalem. In this way, he supports Israel's exclusive claim to all the land. Are there already reactions to this?
Fr. Nicodemus: The point is, it's all very complicated in the Holy Land. Both sides – Israelis and Palestinians – claim Jerusalem as their capital. The deal is that internationally the other states respond by having diplomatic missions for Israel in Tel Aviv and for Palestine in Ramallah. Jerusalem is deliberately left out. There are a few states that have their consulate general in Jerusalem – like France or Belgium. But then this applies to Jerusalem and Palestine. There are a very few states that have their embassy in Jerusalem – but these are mini-states that are rather insignificant. Jerusalem is like a fragile china shop. The whole region is so highly sensitive. Every square inch is full of historically charged memories, where much is remembered but also suppressed. It is a complicated spider web and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would of course be a very massive intervention in the finely chiseled fabric.
Interviewer: Israel's head of state is one of the first to be invited by the US president, what do you think about that??
Father Nicodemus: This is not quite unusual. The connection with Israel and the United States has always been close. And if you ask Israelis, who is your most important ally, everybody would say: The USA. There are actually three important principles of Israel's foreign policy: first, "good relations with the U.S.," second, "good relations with the U.S.," and no less important, "good relations with the U.S.". That is, this is now nothing extraordinary. Of course, there is a feeling now that with the new president, certain circles are looking to him with a new expectation.
Interviewer: Do you think your life in the Dormitio Abbey will be more difficult??
Father Nicodemus: I have already seen so much. So what else is going to happen there. My monastery in Jerusalem burned. My monastery in Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee burned down. I get spat on so often, I've had graffiti with the words "Death to Christians" written on the walls so often. What could be worse?

One is already hardened too. On the other hand, I have had so many invitations from rabbis to Shabbat dinners, so many wonderful encounters with Muslims, Jews and atheists. Jerusalem is an intense place – like a roller coaster ride. I associate my best and worst experiences with Jerusalem. The last fourteen years have been anything but boring. And I believe it will continue. I look to the future with hope and trust in God.

The interview was conducted by Heike Sicconi.