Pope Clement VI purchased the site of the Last Supper, known
throughout Christendom as the Cenacle Shrine of the Upper Room on
November 21, 1342. The Shrine however was lost to the Ottoman Empire
in 1551. With the establishment of the State of Israel the Shrine fell
under the control of the Israeli government in 1948 where it remains
unused to this day. The Shrine has no religious significance to Jews
but as the third most important shrine in Christianity, it's return
for Christian use, will serve as an immeasurable gesture of good will
to Christians around the World. Pave the Way has been suggesting, to
Israeli government officials, to simply allow the use of the Shrine
by the Christian world,
rather then any property turnover. This use will not disturb the Tomb
of King David below or the Yeshiva on the ground level . This simple
gesture will give a sorely needed boost to the decimated tourism industry
in the Holy Land, by
sending a signal to the Christian world, that they are welcome in
Israel. This, gesture will in turn, help all the people in the region.
We are working to
return the full use the Convent of St. Anthony, for humanitarian
purposes, to the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Although the Sisters own the convent, private tenants currently occupy half of the convent. Israeli law protects the rights of such
occupants and Pave the Way is therefore striving to facilitate a
solution favorable to all parties.
The Vatican Library
and Museum have many Hebrew Artifacts and manuscripts in their
collection. We are working with officials to lend many of these items
to Jewish institutions with the hope that one day, some of these
objects may be repatriated to the Jewish People. The very fact that
many of these manuscripts and artifacts are in existence today, is
because they were preserved by the Vatican. Throughout the ages,
Jewish writings have been lost through war, pogroms and destruction.
