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Is Pope Benedictus XVI Resuscitating the Donation of Constantine

In early last May, Pope Benedictus XVl stepped down onto the soil of the Holy Land. The preparations had been completed on time; the crowds thronged to greet the Pope. However, the welcome infusing the land of milk and honey had a bitter tang to it and a tense scenario clouded the Pope's four day visit to Israel. His adherents might have been gushing with Christian love, but a host of adversaries gritted their teeth while impatiently awaiting his departure. Rabbi Dov Lior, the Chief Rabbi of Hebron, claimed that all events "granting honor to the Pope" should be boycotted. So was Christ's Vicar on Earth bringing brotherly love, or was there another agenda? The Holy See's official declarations should always be listened to attentively, yet there's no ignoring the fact that a plethora of instances wrought with papal political intrigue crowd the historical timeline. So it's no wonder that any pope entering Israel should evoke sensitivity and alertness. Few are the popes who wish to ascend to the celestial spheres without a desire to leave their imprint on world history. Pope John Paul ll, Benedict's predecessor was one of the most political popes the papacy had elected in the past hundred years. Never flagging in his endeavors to undermine communism and lead the atheistic pagans of the Soviet Union back into Christianity's fold, John Paul ll lived to restore his Polish homeland into the lap of Roman Catholicism. So let's not be naïve, when popes raise their pastoral staff - it's often to pronounce a mixed blessing - blessings that are as much political as spiritual. The medieval clash between emperor and pope might have faded but its echo continues to resound in today's corridors of power. The angst which gripped various circles in Israel at the time of the Pope's visit is well founded. It is a simmering fear that the Vatican had actually formulated an astonishing list of temporal objectives for the Pope's spring hop to Israel. Members of the Israeli Rabbinical Council were and still are distressed that the Vatican has the audacity to claim ownership of sites in Israel conquered by the Crusaders a thousand years ago. According to Rabbi Kook, Chief Rabbi of Rehovot, the pope came with a shopping list of tens of sites he wished to transfer to Vatican ownership - 19 of them in Judea and Samaria and 28 in Jerusalem, chief among them is the 'Chamber of the Last Supper' on Mount Zion, close to King David's burial site. Needless to say, Israel retains its sovereign rights not only according to national and international law but also resulting from historical precedent going back thousands of years. The Jewish sages also pointed an accusing finger inwards, to the Israeli Foreign Office. According to Rabbi Kook, political bodies confirmed that on the eve of the Pope's visit, discussions were underway on the subject,

and he feared that the capital of Israel would become a daughter city of the Vatican in Rome. Has the Donation of Constantine been resuscitated by Benedictus XVl? It was Pope Sylvester l who, in the fourth century, received a unique legal document legitimizing the Church's temporal possession of large swathes of lands in Italy, which evolved into the Papal States. The Papal States comprised territories under direct rule of the papacy, and at its peak it covered most of the modern central regions of Italy including Romagna, Marche, Umbria and Lazio. This ground-breaking deed, known as the Donation of Constantine, was awarded to the pope personally by the Roman Emperor Constantine for having converted him to Christianity - and more to the point, curing him of leprosy. And so the bishop of Rome could claim legal rights and ownership over vast territories and magnificent real estate within the Roman Empire. As the centuries passed and popes became wealthier and more powerful, the Donation, this ancient and precious document continued to uphold papal territorial claims in Italy by enhancing them with greater antiquity, and so removing any doubt to the Vatican's legitimacy over sprawling acquisitions. And then one day, many centuries later, the game was up! The Donation of Constantine was discovered for what it truly was - a hoax, or rather a brilliant medieval eighth century forgery. Lorenzo Valla, a rising polymath scholarly star in the glittering epoch of the Renaissance, revealed and proved one of the greatest forgeries in history. Astonishingly, no earth shattering apocalypse ensued; the ground did not give way under the splendid Apostolic Palace and the magnificent Church of Saint Peter; and more importantly, the papacy didn't shrivel back to its true spiritual essence embodying primeval apostolic poverty, modesty and love. Quite the contrary - the High Renaissance popes, such as Julius ll, became even bolder, more assertive and far wealthier. Even after the fraud was exposed, they went on to construct ever grander palaces and unashamedly became the world's wealthiest patrons of aspiring artists while themselves becoming owners of the most incredible art collections in the world. The Apostolic Palace burst its dimensions with splendor and grandeur, and the Church of Saint Peter crystallized into western Christendom's glittery spiritual centerpiece. Although the Donation of Constantine was not mentioned in the Rabbinical Council of Israel's emergency meeting on Wednesday May 6 - and it is doubtful that it would have been even if the participants had been aware of it - the substance of their deliberations cannot but evoke associations with the great historical myth. The rabbinical sages are definitely justified in refuting the Holy See's claims to create a miniVatican in a foreign country. But the Vatican's demands on the one hand, and the rabbinical sages' refutations on the other, raise a far more significant issue: the rejection of the lessons of history. By raising ownership issues, the Holy See and the Pope at its head are making a colossal blunder. Once again the Pope is stirring up the ghost of the Donation of Constantine. By engaging in real-estate concerns in a foreign country, the Vatican demonstrates that it has never given up on

temporal power and material gain. It continues to strive to wield the sword of kingship rather than the single sword of spirituality. It took 95 theses to be nailed to a church door for Martin Luther's wakeup call exposing the papacy's sins of voracity, covetousness and corruption, leading to the break-away Protestant church and the destruction of western Christendom's unity. Surely Roman Catholicism's single pursuit and goals should be within the spiritual sphere and the City of God. By engaging in the polemics of historical claims over temporal possessions the Holy See once again prepares the ground for the resuscitation of the Donation of Constantine. If Benedict's concern is accessibility to the holy sites then he can rest assured that, unlike in the past prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, all the Christian sites today are in safe keeping, open to the public, and protected by the law and the procedures of a democratic country. Unlike Pope Urban ll, Benedictus XVl has no need to send out Crusaders to protect pilgrims from the infidel. So why this unnecessary scrape with the authorities of a foreign country causing such distress that the Rabbinate's Holy Sites Commission has to enunciate that "according to the Jewish Law it is forbidden for any person to cooperate in handing over part or an asset in the Land of Israel to the State of the Vatican."? Yet, if the Vatican's stubbornness prevails there is a deal that the State of Israel can make with the Holy See. Actually, it is an exclusive offer not to be refused. For there is only one spiritual and temporal deal, that could be accepted by Israel. But could Pope Benedictus XVl offer what no other pope in history has yet dared to articulate in a whisper, let alone propose? Now is the time for the revolutionary deal of the century: the Pope should offer the return of the Temple Treasures including the famous golden menorah (candelabra) plundered by the Romans in 70 CE from the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Ever since the Treasures' hijacking by General Titus it has been assumed that the Treasures are still concealed in the Vatican cellars. If it were mere myth why would so many high profile visitors to the Vatican demand their return? On meeting with Pope John Paul ll in 1995, Israel's former President Katzav requested their restoration, and the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis of Israel have also officially insisted on their return. To date nothing, has yet been forthcoming. Furthermore, the Vatican has repeatedly refused to respond to Israel's requests for any official visit by a high profile team of experts to inspect the Vatican cellars. The thawing enactment of Nostra Aetate at Vatican ll by Pope John XXlll in 1963, which lifted the collective blame of deicide of the Jewish people in the birth of Christianity, was a reconciliation milestone in Catholic-Jewish relations. Further steps in improving relations between ecclesia and synagoga were taken by Pope John Paul ll. By being the first pope to visit Auschwitz and enter the synagogue in Rome he embodied the struggle against anti-Semitism. We are still gradually ascending the slippery slope of Judeo-Christian rapprochement. Could Pope Pope

Benedictus XVl guide his forerunners' acts to a crescendo by being the first pope to lead both sides into the Terra Incognita of shared history? Frank Shapiro: fshap@013.net.il (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Shapiro

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