ACN Malta
The Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha receives compensation for a serious arson attack on their church
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mons. Fouad Twal, said that on 21 September the General Prosecutor of Israel decided to accept the claim of the Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha, which had requested compensation for the damage caused by a serious arson attack on the church of the Multiplication of Bread.
The Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha had asked for state compensation following a serious incendiary attack on 18 June. The church is located in Galilea close to the border of the Sea of Galilee.
The attack prompted a public demonstration by Christian believers, who participated in a special Eucharist to make amends for the act of vandalism and demanded an investigation of the incident. Three suspects were arrested in the following weeks and identified as members of “a group of radical ideology” responsible for attacks against Palestinian Christians.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem lamented the incident and called for something be done to stop the tide of vandalism that had been recorded in several Christian areas of the country. In reply the President of Israel reaffirmed on the occasion of the attack that “Christian communities must be able to prosper in security ” in Israel.
The decision of the General Prosecutor overrules a previous decision by the Authority of Taxes of Property of Israel, which initially denied the possibility of compensation to repair the damage caused by the extremist attack.
