“There is no road wanted by God or the devil”

Why is there a French flag flying over the House of Abraham?
Set up when the house was created by Catholic Relief Services in 1964, it has remained by tradition. When I arrived here in 2020, I asked our Palestinian neighbors if it should be taken down. “Leave it,” they told me. They appreciate it. It is also a way for them to protect the place from the covetousness of Israelis. A colony of a thousand Israelis settled there in 2004.

Why do they covet her?
Some religious Zionists want to take all the land, because they think God gave it to them. The House of Abraham is, moreover, considered pro-Palestinian by Israel. This is a big problem in this country: here, if you help one side, you are necessarily against the other. It just so happens that the house is in Palestinian territory, in East Jerusalem. We have a mission of social development of the neighborhood and maintain relations with those around us. Four or five times a year, we organize a big meal. We are in contact with local associations. And we train poor women to consolidate the family economy: through crafts, a catering activity, sewing…

How are you experiencing the current period?
Jerusalem is completely closed and empty. It is very quiet. There are almost no more pilgrims and our house is not currently hosting any groups. Remotely, by video, I urge those expected in September not to give up on coming.

What pilgrims do you receive?
Half of them are Christians. The others are mainly French-speaking Muslims. We are trying to welcome the poorest, particularly through the intermediary of Catholic Relief Services or the Caritas Foundation.

And the Jews?
It is very difficult to bring them to East Jerusalem. I sense in them a visceral and irrational fear of mixing and going to Palestinian neighborhoods. In our house, a Jewish person still trains Israeli guides in Christianity. And in 2023 we organized a seminar on Christian monasticism for 30 Jews, with the Benedictines of the Mount of Olives.

Are these peace initiatives not in vain in the face of the world’s tumult?
Ah! It is certain that they have no impact on big politics (smile). But they do have one for the inhabitants of the neighborhood. That is the spirit of Secours Catholique. Where we are, we create spaces for dialogue and encounter. We all live in a bubble. Bringing bubbles together is our mission. A wonderful mission.

Do you think Israel is a country that is evolving under a bell jar?
This has been exacerbated by the construction of the wall in East Jerusalem since 2002 and the blockade of Gaza since 2007, which has trapped its residents there. One could add many other obstacles that prevent people from meeting each other.

Which?
Eating habits with their religious prohibitions that complicate fraternal encounters around a meal. Or social networks that lock everyone in their own universe. Israel remains a very small country. Everyone has connections everywhere. As soon as someone suffers violence, their community knows about it. This maintains fear. I finished reading a fascinating book, Emotions against democracy (2022), by Eva Illouz. She analyzes the link between democracy and emotion. All populists, from Donald Trump to the extremists of France and Israel, play fully on three basic emotions of every human being: fear, the fear of being downgraded, and racism. Our democracies are in danger because leaders play with these impulses.

A Catholic priest told me that a man spat on him in Jerusalem. The abbot of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem was beaten by two Jewish nationalists in February. Is religious coexistence under threat in Israel?
This is an old phenomenon that has unfortunately gotten worse. Yisca Harani, a Jewish academic, has set up a system so that Christians who are spat on can file a complaint. With other Jews, she also protects the religious processions of Armenians to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, by supervising them. Two years ago, we were the first Christian institution in Jerusalem to be sued by the Israeli authorities. They want us to pay property taxes. However, two treaties, from 1900 and 1993, stipulate that Christian institutions do not pay them in Jerusalem, in order to maintain religious diversity. Christians, who are 1% in Israel, carry out 30 to 40% of social actions in Palestine: hospitals, schools, etc. If we have to pay taxes, many of us will stop.

How to get out of the spiral of resentment?
It depends on the origin of this resentment. If it is racist, we must work on prejudices, organize meetings so that everyone sees the human being in the person in front of them. If it is linked to injustice, we must attack the source. In this case, the colonization of the West Bank and the absence of a sovereign country for the Palestinians. On this subject, everyone has their share of responsibility: the international community, Israel, Palestine.

What will your future hold?
I am retiring in November. In France, I would like to engage in research and the implementation of antidotes to the instrumentalization of emotions by political and religious extremists. They are the ones who are leading the world in the wrong direction. The major antidote to extremism is probably reason. Then love, the opposite emotion that counterbalances negative feelings.

Is there a path to peace in Israel?
Yes, if the political leaders change. In the long run, the walls and extremism must fall. There is still hope. I know Palestinians and Israelis who continue to advocate non-violence.

When you were young, you worked as an engineer for a large group, Procter & Gamble. Why didn’t you continue on this prosperous path?
Because I had realized that the volunteer work I did in the evenings and on weekends made me happier. I helped people on the streets and prisoners. I wanted to be a little useful, like everyone else. I was very tortured at the time. Should I quit my job? I didn’t know about Ignatian discernment at the time. It would have helped me a lot. I had completely lost my faith until I was 22. Then I had a rather brutal conversion.

Tell us…
My wife took me to an evening of charismatic prayer. I felt turned upside down inside, deeply forgiven. I broke down in tears. However, I am more of a scientist, a Jesuit, in my personality. The next day, I wanted to be a priest. It only lasted a few weeks (laughs). Shortly after, a worker-priest, Father “Riton”, chaplain at the Fleury-Mérogis prison, suggested that I have dinner with the homeless. His companionship helped me. I was a bourgeois from the 16th arrondissement of Paris. I was afraid that the homeless would judge me, see me as the bourgeois on duty who claims to help. It was not like that at all. These were direct, human encounters, without social masks. It did me an incredible amount of good. Fragile people do you this extraordinary service of removing the mask.

Did you make the right choice in choosing Secours Catholique?
I don’t know. I can just tell you that Catholic Relief Services made me happy. I think that God accompanies us no matter what path we take. There is no road wanted by God or the devil. To think that would be perverse reasoning. Maybe others would have done better than me at Catholic Relief Services. If I had had a more anchored faith, maybe I would have stayed in a large company to try to change things from the inside. Multinationals are sometimes more powerful than States.

Would you not have feared being corrupted by the exercise of power?
It is surely very difficult to resist. That is why it takes faith and companionship. But it is possible.