Agreement between the State of Israel and the Holy
See
Pursuant to Article 3 (3) of the Fundamental
Agreement between the State of Israel and the Holy
See (also referred to as the "Legal Personality
Agreement")
Signed in Jerusalem this 10th day of the month of
November in the year 1997, which corresponds to the
10th day of the month of Heshvan in the year 5758.
Article 1
This Agreement is made on the basis of the provisions
of the "Fundamental Agreement between the State of
Israel and the Holy See", which was signed on 30
December 1993, and then entered into force on 10
March 1994 (hereinafter: the "Fundamental
Agreement").
Article 2
Recalling that the Holy See is the Sovereign
Authority of the Catholic Church, the State of Israel
agrees to assure full effect in Israeli law to the
legal personality of the Catholic Church itself.
Article 3
- The State of Israel agrees to assure full effect
in Israeli law, in accordance with the
provisions of this Agreement, to the legal
personality of the following:
-
a. these Eastern Catholic Patriarchates: the
Greek Melkite Catholic, the Syrian
Catholic, the Maronite, the Chaldean, the
Armenian Catholic (hereinafter: the
"Eastern Catholic Patriarchates");
- b. the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, id est
the Latin Patriarchal Diocese of Jerusalem;
- c. the present Dioceses of the Eastern
Catholic Patriarchates;
- d. new Dioceses, wholly in Israel, Eastern
Catholic or Latin, as may exist from time
to time;
- e. the "Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of
the Holy Land".
- f. The Holy See states, for the avoidance of
doubt, that the listing in par. 1 does not
prejudice in any way the established order
of precedence of the Heads of the various
entities, according to their personal rank
and as it is fixed by traditional usage and
accepted by them.
- g. For the avoidance of doubt, it is stated
that the question of assuring full effect
in Israeli law to the legal personality of
any new cross-border Diocese is left open.
- h. For the purposes of this Agreement, a
Parish is in integral part of the
respective Diocese, and, without affecting
its status under the canon law, will not
acquire a separate legal personality under
Israeli law. A Diocese may, subject to the
canon law, authorise its Parishes to act on
its behalf, in such matters and under such
terms, as it may determine.
- i. In this Agreement, "Diocese" includes its
synonyms or equivalents.
Article 4
The State of Israel agrees to assure full effect in
Israeli law, in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement, to the legal personality of the
Custody of the Holy Land.
Article 5
The State of Israel agrees to assure full effect in
Israeli law, in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement, to the legal personality of the
following, as they exist from time to time in Israel:
-
a. the Pontifical Institutes of Consecrated Life of
the kinds that exist in the Catholic Church, and
such of their Provinces or Houses as the
Institute concerned may cause to be certified;
- b. other official entities of the Catholic Church.
Article 6
- For the purposes of this Agreement the legal
persons referred to in Articles 3-5
(hereinafter, in this Article: "legal person"),
being established under the canon law, are
deemed to have been created according to the
legislation of the Holy See, being Sovereign in
international law.
-
- a. the law which governs any legal transaction
or other legal acts in Israel between any
legal person and any party shall be the law
of the State of Israel, subject to the
provisions of sub-paragraph (b).
- b. Any matter concerning the identity of the
head, of the presiding officer or of any
other official or functionary of a legal
person, or their authority or their powers
to act on behalf of the legal person, is
governed by the canon law.
- c. Without derogation from the generality of
sub-paragraph (b), certain kinds of
transactions by a legal person concerning
immovable property or certain other kinds
of property, depend on a prior written
permission of the Holy See in accordance
with Its written Decisions as issued from
time to time. Public access to the
aforesaid Decisions will be in accordance
with the Implementation Provisions.
-
- a. Any dispute concerning an internal
ecclesiastical matter between a member,
official or functionary of a legal person
and any legal person, whether the member,
official or functionary belongs to it or
not, or between legal persons, shall be
determined in accordance with the canon
law, in a judicial or administrative
ecclesiastical forum.
- b. For the avoidance of doubt it is stated
that the provisions of 2(a) shall not apply
to disputes referred to in the above
sub-paragraph (a).
- For the avoidance of doubt, it is stated:
a. a legal person, whose legal personality is
given full effect in Israel, is deemed to
have consented to sue and be sued before a
judicial or administrative forum in Israel,
if that is the proper forum under Israeli
law.
- b. Sub-paragraph (a) does not derogate from
any provision in Articles 6-9.
Article 7
The application of this Agreement to any legal person
is without prejudice to any of its rights or
obligations previously created.
Article 8
- For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this
Agreement shall be construed as supporting an
argument that any of the legal persons to which
this Agreement applies had not been a legal
person prior to this Agreement.
- If a party makes a claim that such a legal
person had not been a legal person in Israeli
law prior to this Agreement, that party shall
bear the burden of proof.
Article 9
Should a question with regard to the canon law arise
in any matter before a Court or forum other than in a
forum of the Catholic Church, it shall be regarded as
a question of fact.
Article 10
The terms "ecclesiastical" and "canon law" refer to
the Catholic Church and Its law.
Article 11
- Without derogating from any provision,
declaration or statement in the Fundamental
Agreement, the ecclesiastical legal persons in
existence at the time of the entry of this
Agreement into force are deemed as being legal
persons in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement, if listed in the ANNEXES to this
Agreement, which are specified in par. 4.
- The ANNEXES form, for all intents and purposes,
an integral part of this Agreement.
- The ANNEXES will include the official name,
respective date or year of establishment in the
Catholic Church, a local address and, if the
head office is abroad, also its address.
-
-
a. ANNEX I lists the legal persons to which
Article 3(1)(a, b, c, e) and Article 4
apply, as the case may be;
- b. ANNEX II lists the legal persons to which
Article 5(a) applies;
- c. ANNEX III lists the legal persons to which
Article 5(b) applies.
Article 12
The other matters on which the Parties have agreed
are included in the Schedule to this Agreement, named
"Implementation Provisions", which forms, for all
intents and purposes, an integral part of this
Agreement, and references to the Agreement include
the Schedule.
Article 13
This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of
the latter notification of ratification by a Party.
Done in two original copies in the Hebrew and English
languages, both texts being equally authentic. In
case of divergence, the English text shall prevail,
except where explicitly provided otherwise in the
Schedule.
Signed in Jerusalem this 10th day of the month of
November in the year 1997, which corresponds to the
10th day of the month of Heshvan in the year 5758.
For the Government
of the State of Israel
For the Holy See
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