Catholic Melkite Bishop Issues Statement after Deportation from Mexico's Airport

 

A bishop of the Melkite rite, one of the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, released a communique about the mistreatment he says he was given and his deportation following his landing at Mexico City International Airport. Bishop Joseph Khawam, apostolic exarch for the Melkite Church in Venezuela and apostolic administrator of the Melkite Eparchy in Mexico, issued a statement concerning Mexican immigration authorities who he claims detained him for hours with illegal immigrants, confiscated his Vatican passport and his personal phone, and deported him to Venezuela from where he had flown to Mexico. The statement was released on April 6th via Facebook and Instagram, the Syrian origin prelate explains what occurred on the night of April 2-3 at the airport in Mexico’s capital city.

Issued by the Bishop His Exc. Bishop Joseph Khawam

Apostolic Exarch for the Melkite Church in Venezuela

Apostolic Administrator of the Melkite Eparchy in Mexico

“Blessed are you, when people insult you and mistreat you, and when because of me they

attack with all kinds of lies.” (Matthew, 5:11)

With great sorrow, His Excellency Bishop Joseph Khawam, Apostolic Administrator of

the Melkite Eparchy in Mexico, deplores and denounces to the competent authorities what

It happened at the International Airport in Mexico City, the capital, around ten in the morning.

night (10:00pm — local time) on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, where immigration authorities will

They detained him for hours with the illegal immigrants, confiscated his Vatican passport and his

personal phone number of his, and then he was deported at dawn on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, back to

Caracas-Venezuela which is his permanent seat after his appointment by His Holiness the

Pope Francis as Apostolic Exarch in Venezuela at the end of 2019.

Bishop Khawam believes that this incident was:

- First: a blatant practice of racial discrimination and an insult to dignity

human above all, given that his original nationality on the Vatican passport is Syrian, and he was

treated by the authorities on this basis, without taking into account the Vatican passport, through the

which he is considered to have the nationality of the Vatican State, like any other citizen

in this world that he has more than one nationality and more than one passport. In his opinion, this

conduct can only be qualified as a violation of human rights and a violation of

the international conventions that regulate the matter.

- Second: It is a great insult to the Church in general and to the Church of Mexico in particular.

(in the legal capacity that he represents as apostolic administrator), since the Bishop was in his

official clerical suit with the cross, and yet they treated him like an illegal immigrant, forced him

to be searched and they asked him to remove the cross from his chest, his wristwatch and also the

clerical clothing for a manual review. All of his suitcases were seized like any other.

illegal immigrant before being deported back to Caracas. They also asked him to sign a

report without being questioned and without knowing what was written in it, he refused to sign and wrote that

He “did not agree” with what he said (this can be seen in the records kept

at the airport immigration office or in the departments related to this matter).

Bishop Khawam was surprised by the treatment he received from the authorities of the

airport by refusing to see all the official documents and credentials that he was carrying and that

They accredited his legal identity as “Apostolic Administrator” in the Catholic Church

Mexican, to which he was going to hold a series of scheduled official and legal meetings

on a previous agenda, and also to participate in the Plenary Assembly of the Episcopal Conference

Mexican (CEM), scheduled to take place between April 8 and 12 of the current year.

- Third: There was also a violation of diplomatic norms and serious abuse

of official relations between the Vatican State and the United Mexican States, since

The Vatican passport was not taken into account, which gives its holder the right to enter the Republic of

Mexico without the need for an entry visa, according to the agreements concluded between the two countries, but quite the opposite happened, since said passport was confiscated from Bishop Khawam and it was not returned until his arrival at the Maiquetía International Airport - Caracas.

It is worth noting that His Excellency the Bishop had requested, during the hours of his

detention, contact and communicate with the Apostolic Nunciature in Mexico or with the Rev. Fr.

Alfonso Serna, legal representative of the Melkite Eparchy in Mexico, who was waiting for him

in the arrivals hall, but the response to his request was rejected several times.

Bishop Khawam concludes what happened with the airport security authorities by saying

that he, he had warned several people that this incident would create a problem between the State

of the Vatican (which represents the church) and the United Mexican States, but it was in vain since,

They did not want to listen to this warning.

Consequently

His Excellency the Apostolic Administrator for the Melkite Church in Mexico, Bishop

Bishop Joseph Khawam, calls on all relevant authorities, both civil and

religious organizations, especially the authorities of the Mexican State, to provide a

general explanation of this strange and reprehensible incident in its entirety, and to compensate for the

psychological, spiritual and material damage he suffered.

His Excellency Bishop Joseph Khawam concludes this statement with a recommendation to the

competent authorities in Mexico to treat people with human love and separate the

situation of illegal immigrants from the situation of those Venezuelans who officially request the

entry to the Republic of Mexico by presenting his requests to the consulate accredited in Caracas

and providing them with all the necessary documents, including the reservation of the travel air ticket

with very high costs, and not play on their nerves by making them wait until a few hours from take off the plane to inform them later about the denial of entry visas after

to prepare his luggage, just as happened with the personal secretary who would accompany His

Excellency the Bishop on this trip.

General Secretary

Melkite Exarchate in Venezuela

APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR