Christian violence
Sunday there was a melee at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, in which Greek Orthodox and Armenian Christians battled each other for control of access to a structure believed to be the tomb of Jesus. Israeli police were on the spot and tried to separate the two groups of monks, but there were not enough of them and reinforcements had to be brought in. Two monks, one of each group was arrested and several monks were injured and had to be treated. Apparently the Armenians were having a traditional parade and one of their number transgressed over the line of the Greek Orthodox area, which resulted in a scuffle that grew into an all out brawl.
This might come as a surprise to many of you who think of Christianity as a peaceful religion (apart from the fact that they killed Jews for nearly 2,000 years). The Church of the Holy Sepuchre is one of the holiest shrines in Christianity and not surprisingly several of the distinct sects of Christianity claim control over specific areas of it. These are mostly the earlier Churches, not only the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian, but also the Coptic, Ethiopian, Eastern Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox. Over the centuries there have been many disputes, that have resulted today in a patchwork of control of different jealously guarded areas of control. On a hot summer day in 2002 a Coptic monk guarding the Coptic region of the roof moved his chair into the shade and this trigggered a fracas with the Ethiopians in which 11 monks were injured. In another dispute, sometime in the 19th century someone put a ladder up against a window of the Holy Sepulchre to investigate the decay there. Unfortunately, the two sects that control that part of the building, the Ethiopians and the Copts, cannot agree who should remove the ladder, and so it sits there to this day (I kid you not), and no work can be done because of it. According to the Israeli authorities the roof is now in a dangerous condition and may collapse, but the sects will not agree to the repairs. According to Israeli law, there should be a fire safety exit to the Church apart from the small entrance that everybody uses. But, the various sects cannot agree where it should be located. So remember, if you enter the Holy Sepuchre it is at your own risk. If there is a fire, there is only one small exit for all monks and tourists. Incidentally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also identified as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, called Golgotha, the place of the skull, and "golgolet" means skull in Hebrew.
Since there is no undisputed evidence for the Holy Sepulchre Church to contain the actual tomb of Jesus, Protestants generally prefer to identify the so-called "Garden Tomb" outside the walls of the Old City as his tomb, although likewise there is no clear evidence for that location either. Aside from this famous Church, many of the denominations, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, as well as Ethiopian, have separate Churches in Jerusalem, many of which are worth a visit. In addition there is the Church of All Nations, where the guides tell you that all the sects of Christianity pray there together in harmony.
This might come as a surprise to many of you who think of Christianity as a peaceful religion (apart from the fact that they killed Jews for nearly 2,000 years). The Church of the Holy Sepuchre is one of the holiest shrines in Christianity and not surprisingly several of the distinct sects of Christianity claim control over specific areas of it. These are mostly the earlier Churches, not only the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian, but also the Coptic, Ethiopian, Eastern Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox. Over the centuries there have been many disputes, that have resulted today in a patchwork of control of different jealously guarded areas of control. On a hot summer day in 2002 a Coptic monk guarding the Coptic region of the roof moved his chair into the shade and this trigggered a fracas with the Ethiopians in which 11 monks were injured. In another dispute, sometime in the 19th century someone put a ladder up against a window of the Holy Sepulchre to investigate the decay there. Unfortunately, the two sects that control that part of the building, the Ethiopians and the Copts, cannot agree who should remove the ladder, and so it sits there to this day (I kid you not), and no work can be done because of it. According to the Israeli authorities the roof is now in a dangerous condition and may collapse, but the sects will not agree to the repairs. According to Israeli law, there should be a fire safety exit to the Church apart from the small entrance that everybody uses. But, the various sects cannot agree where it should be located. So remember, if you enter the Holy Sepuchre it is at your own risk. If there is a fire, there is only one small exit for all monks and tourists. Incidentally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also identified as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, called Golgotha, the place of the skull, and "golgolet" means skull in Hebrew.
Since there is no undisputed evidence for the Holy Sepulchre Church to contain the actual tomb of Jesus, Protestants generally prefer to identify the so-called "Garden Tomb" outside the walls of the Old City as his tomb, although likewise there is no clear evidence for that location either. Aside from this famous Church, many of the denominations, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, as well as Ethiopian, have separate Churches in Jerusalem, many of which are worth a visit. In addition there is the Church of All Nations, where the guides tell you that all the sects of Christianity pray there together in harmony.
posted by Jack Cohen at 5:39 PM
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