CHRISTIAN RIVALRY BURNS AT SITE OF JESUS’ TOMB
By Nathan Jeffay

Forward
997/
March 21 2008
NY

Monks Trade Blows Over Turf in Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Jerusalem – With big egos competing for sacred space and urgent claims
that a miracle is imminent, Jerusalem’s latest religious conflict
has all the makings of a classic Holy City conflagration.

All, that is, except for the cast of characters: There is not a single
Jew or Muslim involved.

Tensions are so bad between two of the six Christian denominations
that share control of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – by tradition
the site of Jesus’ tomb – that some fear priests and pilgrims may
come to blows over Easter.

The high point of Easter celebrations at the church is a ceremony
known as the Miracle of the Holy Fire, during which candles are
said to be lit by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit in
the shrine reputed to contain remains of the tomb. The event takes
place on Orthodox Easter Saturday, falling this year on April 27. It
typically attracts thousands of pilgrims.

The question of who enters the tomb to receive the fire is an
ongoing cause of friction among the church’s resident sects, and
this year tensions have been exacerbated by a series of physical
altercations, here and in Bethlehem, that left monks and priests
variously hospitalized, arrested and banned from the church.

For years, the patriarch, or religious head, of the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate entered the shrine together with a priest from the
Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate. In 2002, however, the Greek prelate
declared that his denomination alone could enter the shrine to receive
the miracle.

The pronouncement caused fury among Armenians, who continue to insist
that both should enter. Every year since has seen a standoff between
the two sects outside the shrine.

Leaders of other denominations that share control of the church have
tried mightily to mediate an agreed procedure. Each year, however,
the prevailing practice has been the same one used to allocate the
last seat on a subway: an unholy scuffle. On the subway, such tiffs
rarely cause more than a muttered curse. But this is Jerusalem, where
every argument is a potential holy war. Compounding the tensions is
the fact that the battleground is the holiest of Christian shrines,
during a most sacred ritual in which God Himself is believed to bestow
a gift directly on man.

To the Armenian church, the attempted exclusion amounts to being told
that Armenian Orthodox clerics may communicate with God only through
the superior Greek Patriarchate, said George Hintlian, an Armenian
historian who served for 25 years on the patriarchate’s restoration
committee. "This is why we expect to go in together," he said.

A spokesman for the Armenian Patriarchate, Archbishop Aris Shirvanian,
described his sect as "an independent and equal church to them [the
Greeks] in the holy places. We are not inferior to them, and demand
restoration of our right of several hundred years’ standing." The
Greek Patriarchate declined to comment.

Given these tensions, every year "there is danger of violence and
actual bloodshed at the ceremony of the Holy Fire on Easter Saturday,"
said Jerusalem lawyer Shmuel Berkovitch, an expert on holy sites who
is often called in to mediate between the denominations.

This year, however, the risk is heightened because of recent clashes
between the two warring denominations, he said.

When tensions flare, it is usually connected to the fact that the Holy
Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, supposedly the
birthplace of Jesus, are elaborately divided up between different
denominations, each of which jealously guards every square foot –
and occasionally seeks opportunities to expand its domain. The current
rules for shared governance were put in place in 1852 by the Turkish
rulers of Palestine.

In addition, there is common territory, where nothing may happen –
not even cleaning – without the consent of all parties. For this
reason, the same wooden ladder seen in 150-year-old etchings of the
church still sits on a windowsill by the entrance, as nobody has the
authority to take it away. The same stalemate explains a stench that
tends to emanate from the toilet during pilgrimage season, and the
absence of a fire exit.

Last month, an Armenian monk and a Greek monk traded punches in the
Holy Sepulchre. The Armenians were holding a procession that needed
to pass an altar controlled by the Greeks. An Armenian monk asked
Greek pilgrims standing there to step back and clear the path.

Greek monks gathered to object that the Armenian cleric was undermining
their authority, and an argument followed with Armenians who rallied
round their colleague.

"One monk from each side attacked the other," said Shmueli Ben-Rubi,
spokesman for Jerusalem police. "Somebody called us to say that two
monks are fighting, beating each other."

He said that no injuries were sustained, and both monks were
arrested. "They were soon released. We regard it as a mutual attack
and are still investigating, seeing what we can do. When we have
finished investigating, we will see if we are going to press charges."

Meanwhile, the monks in question were banned from the church until
last week, he added.

The incident came on the heels of another clash at the Church of the
Nativity last year, arising from a case of unauthorized cleaning.

According to the Turkish rules, tidying up constitutes a declaration
of ownership. Tensions flared in December when Greek priests tried
to clean an Armenian-run area. The Armenians deemed it a "serious
issue," fearing it could lead to future claims to the "territory,"
Shirvanian said.

The two sides hit each other with brooms, and seven Greeks and two
Armenians were hospitalized with minor injuries.

With these clashes fresh in the minds of the two sides, Berkovitch
predicts that both parties will be more determined than ever to get
their own way over the Holy Fire. "Anything to inflame the already-high
tensions before Easter is very bad news," he said, adding: "There
will be tension until the last minute." Ben-Rubi confirmed that
there will be a reinforced police presence, at least partly due to
interdenominational tensions.

Leaders of the Franciscans – the Catholic order that, under papal
decree, acts as the sole caretaker of most other Christian sites in
the Holy Land – are also worried about the situation at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre.

"There are lots of tensions between Greeks and Armenians," said
Father Athanasius, one of the highest-ranking Franciscan clerics on
the scene. "Tensions are higher than they were last year, and I don’t
know what will happen."