Jordan Times
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
'Arab Christian presence in Jerusalem threatened'
By Reem Halasa
AMMAN — The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams began a two-day visit to Jordan on Monday as part of a pastoral tour of the Middle East, Anglican church officials here said.His Majesty King Abdullah met with the archbishop at the Royal Court, where the two discussed efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.
King Abdullah noted that the Arab Christian presence in the Holy Land is threatened by forced emigration due to occupation.
The archbishop, who is the spiritual leader of the Anglican church, presided over a mass in the Arab Episcopal Church (Al Fadi) in Jabal Amman at 6:00pm yesterday, said Ghazi Musharbash, coordinator of the archbishop's visit.
The mass was attended by heads of most of the Christian denominations in the Kingdom, Musharbash added.
Yesterday, the archbishop visited the Bishop School, Al Ahlyiah School for Girls and Schneller Refugee Camp.
On Tuesday, he is expected to visit the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt, and end his tour of Jordan with a visit to the Baptism Site (Bethany Beyond the Jordan), before he heads to the West Bank.
The archbishop is expected to meet with political and religious leaders in the occupied Palestinian territories, sources said. The five-day tour comes at an invitation from the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, the Reverend Riah Hanna Abu El Assal.
Williams was accompanied by Herman Browne, the archbishop's secretary for Anglican Communion Affairs; the Reverend Jonathan Jennings, the archbishop's press secretary; and Canon James Rosenthal, director of communications for the Anglican Communion Affairs.
The 45-year-old Williams was elected as Archbishop of Canterbury in July 2002 and enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in February 2003 in England's Canterbury Cathedral.