If this is the real Cana, maybe pope will visit it - Analysis - Column

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 21, 1994 by Peter Hebblethwaite

OXFORD, England - On the miracle at Cana, John 2 offers great comfort to married Christians. It suggests that Jesus, though unmarried, had a concern for young married couples and did not want their marriage parties to flop. Old-school Catholic exegetes say this episode is not so much about marriage as Mariology: Jesus does what his mother tells him. Hmmm, is all I can say to that.

Present-day Cana lies in the southern part of Lebanon. It is defended by the Lebanese Army's 5th Brigade, aided by a small detachment of U.N. Fijians. It is a largely Muslim village. Its 85-year-old imam, Sheik Badrehdin al-Sair, keeps up the moral tone and traditions of the place. He is tolerant, up to a point.

Some years ago - the lack of precision is determined by the imam's fading memory - Christians found a cave hewed out of volcanic rock high above the village in which a cross was carved. They decided this must be the gospel Cana and celebrated midnight Mass there. They made the village a pilgrimage center. This was not an altogether silly idea. By now a quarter of the population of Cana, the Christians were able to point out that archaeologists had discovered in an adjacent cave six stone water pots along with human figures of ancient lineage carved into the bare rock.

The six pots are still there. But the carvings, having survived a thousand Phoenician winters, are being disfigured both by the ravages of time and the enthusiasm of recent pilgrims who have lopped off pieces of Cana rock to take home.

The historic jars are now guarded by the Lebanese 5th Division. This is because the imam laid claim to the cave by placing two concrete blocks upon it with the legend: "In the name of Allah the most merciful in the presence of Sheik Badrehdin al-Sair, we announce the start of the building here of the mosque of the Quranic school, 12/13/93."

Despite this act of aggression. al-Sair is not systematically unfriendly to Christians. In the Quran Jesus is a prophet and the followers of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians are, if not actually praised, at least accorded the right to exist. He knows that "Jesus passed through the wadis of this region," and wonders, "but did Jesus actually stop here?"

The imam is skeptical. He fears that once the story that Cana is the true site of the miracle gets about, then the village "will be turned into a tourist resort with gambling and drinking." About what that means he is quite clear: "You know what drinking does. It makes men fornicate with their mothers and their sisters because they don't know what they are doing when they are drunk." It will soon become the Cana theme park.

The teetotal message obviously carries an extra punch of paradox in Cana. Al-Sair thinks its miracle story is great nonsense: "Why should Jesus have turned water, which is a gift from God and good for health, into the great cancer of alcohol?"

The imam concludes: "The story of the marriage feast at Cana is rubbish." What do scripture scholars make of all this? They admit the story is only in John's Gospel. They grant that John refers to "Cana of Galilee" which is very definitely 15 miles over the Israeli-Lebanese frontier. Whether this is the right village or not, if Pope John Paul II visits Lebanon this year, as he must if the Lebanese Synod is effectively to happen, then he will surely want to visit the only part of southern Lebanon that can claim a direct link with Christ.

At this point the Shiah resolution of the sheik began to waver. A papal visit would put Cana back on the map. What price can he pay?

John Paul has denounced the notion of building a mosque on the site as "fanaticism." The project has been abandoned. The Fijians, who make up the small U.N. contingent in Cana look on with great, wondering eyes.