Hilarion Capucci

Hilarion Capucci was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1922.[1] He was a Greek-Melkite cleric who became an archbishop in Jerusalem and served as vicar of Patriarch Maximos.[2][4] An official U.S. authority record identifies him as a "Syrian Archbishop of the Basilian Aleppian Order."[5]

His ecclesiastical designation is rendered differently across the sources. The Jewish Virtual Library calls him a Greek Catholic Melkite archbishop of Jerusalem and vicar of Patriarch Maximos, while Ynet describes him as an archbishop of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church.[2][6] The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center dates his appointment to 1965, although its separate accounts use inconsistent formulations for his title and jurisdiction.[1][3]

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reports that Capucci made frequent visits to Lebanon during the early 1970s and met Abu Jihad, whom it identifies as the head of Fatah's military-terrorist wing.[1] It says Capucci used his diplomatic passport to transport arms intended for Fatah attacks against Israel.[1] Israeli authorities arrested him in August 1974 after he attempted to carry handguns and explosives in his car from Lebanon into Israel for Fatah while exploiting diplomatic immunity.[3][2]

Capucci was charged with aiding a terrorist organization and contacting a foreign agent.[1] An archival record from the Israeli newspaper Davar dates the opening of his trial to September 22, 1974.[7] On December 9, 1974, he was found guilty of smuggling arms and explosives for Fatah and sentenced to 12 years in prison.[2]

CAMERA Snapshots, quoting a book by Shlomo Harary and Roni Shaked, reported that three Katyusha rockets allegedly smuggled by Capucci were found near United Nations headquarters in Jerusalem on May 14, 1974.[8] According to the quoted account, the rockets were aimed at the Western Wall, buildings in southern Jerusalem, and the King David Hotel, where U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was staying, and were neutralized minutes before their timer was set to launch them.[8]

CAMERA also reported that Capucci claimed at his trial that he had been forced to smuggle weapons for the PLO, but it provided no further details or corroboration.[8]

Pope Paul VI sent a personal letter to Israeli President Ephraim Katzir requesting Capucci's release. Katzir commuted the sentence on November 6, 1977, and Capucci was released immediately.[2] He was subsequently deported, with the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reporting that he was sent to Rome.[1][4] The pope supplied a written promise that Capucci would not "bring any harm to the State of Israel," which was understood as a commitment not to engage in political activity.[2] A contemporary news-service report preserved by the American Jewish Archives said the Vatican guaranteed that Capucci "would not return to the Middle East or publicly discuss issues of the region."[9]

Capucci did not observe those conditions. After being assigned to tour Melkite-Rite communities in Latin America, he traveled to Syria without Vatican permission in January 1979.[9] He attended a session of the Palestinian National Council, where he denounced Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the Camp David agreements between Israel and Egypt.[9] He later participated in PLO-organized propaganda meetings, contrary to the assurances associated with his release.[2]

Even before his release, a May 1975 statement from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations had relayed another article's description of him as "gun-running Archbishop Capucci" during a dispute over Vatican policy and Jewish-Christian relations.[10]

During the Iran hostage crisis, Capucci and lawyer Christian Bourguet traveled to Tehran. A May 1980 U.S. State Department memorandum described Capucci as acting "at his own initiative attempting to explore the possibilities for Islamic countries playing a helpful role in building a consensus for the release of the hostages."[11] He planned to consult Iranian leaders and consider encouraging approaches by Syria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, and Palestinian representatives.[11]

Capucci and Bourguet hoped to discuss possible ways to resolve the crisis with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in Damascus and possibly with PLO leader Yasser Arafat.[11] Capucci agreed with the U.S. position opposing trials of the hostages and was considering support for a seven-nation conference. The memorandum also stated that the Vatican would not object to his travel to Damascus if the United States obtained Israel's agreement to "look the other way."[11]

In 2009, at age 86, Capucci was aboard a Lebanese ship that sailed from Tripoli and changed course toward Gaza as part of a campaign to breach Israel's naval closure.[1][4] Israeli patrol boats repeatedly attempted to stop it and fired warning shots before boarding. The ship was taken to Ashdod, and its 18 passengers and crew, including Capucci, were transferred for police questioning.[12] Searches found humanitarian supplies but no weapons, and Capucci was later deported to Lebanon.[1][12]

Capucci participated in the Mavi Marmara flotilla in May 2010.[1] He was also listed among the figures associated with the planned 2012 Global March on Jerusalem.[13] In 2011, he was among the prelates who presided at the funeral Mass for Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Bulciago, Italy.[6]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented Capucci with the Star of Jerusalem medal during a visit to Rome. The stated recognition honored "his role in the historic struggle of the Palestinian people, his love for Palestine and his defense of the rights of the Palestinian people."[1] CAMERA Snapshots reported that a translated WAFA account also cited Capucci's "secret work in support of the Palestinian revolution."[8] The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center's narrative dates the presentation to 2013, while a later image caption gives 2016.[1]

Capucci died in Rome at age 94 in 2017; the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center gives the date as January 1.[14][4] The Vatican confirmed reports of his death but provided no additional details.[4] Abbas later praised him at a street-naming ceremony in Beit Sahour as "a national warrior" who had sacrificed greatly for his "second homeland, Palestine."[14]

Published accounts differ over the chronology of Capucci's prosecution. The Jewish Virtual Library dates his sentencing to December 9, 1974, and the commutation of his sentence to November 6, 1977.[2] A 2017 Ynet obituary instead says Israel convicted him in 1976 and that he served two years before Vatican intervention.[4] The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center's pages also use inconsistent ecclesiastical titles and differ between 1977 and 1978 when describing the papal or Holy See intervention.[1][3]

No court record appears among the cited materials, although the National Library of Israel's Davar archive confirms that his trial began on September 22, 1974.[7] Capucci's reported claim that he was coerced into smuggling weapons is preserved by CAMERA Snapshots without supporting detail or corroboration.[8]