ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM: A SUMMER OF DIFFICULTIES,
BREAKTHROUGHS
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JERUSALEM, SEPTEMBER 19, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. During the
summer, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem suffered two incidences
of vandalism to its outlying properties, one in Ramleh, an hour’s
distance from Jerusalem, and one at Baron Der, a
thirty-three-and-a-half acre olive grove between the towns of
Bethlehem-Beit Jala and Jerusalem, as reports the patriarchate.
In Ramleh, vandals took advantage of the temporarily uninhabited
property of St. George’s Armenian Monastery to ransack the interior as
well as to destroy doors and windows. The Superior of the Monastery,
Father Avedis Ipradjian, reported the incident to the Israeli police.
Patriarch Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, accompanied by members of the
St. James Brotherhood, traveled to Ramleh to survey the damage.
The Monastery dates back to the 1600’s and its ancient history is
linked to Armenian pilgrims, who, before the invention of modern
transportation, regularly disembarked from boats in the nearby port of
Jaffa on their way to Jerusalem. After resting at St. Nicholas Armenian
Monastery in Jaffa, overlooking the harbor of Tel Aviv, they would
proceed to Ramleh and St. George’s Monastery. After another rest
period, they would resume their journey to Jerusalem.
Barely a month later, the Patriarchate learned of another incident that
a fire of suspicious origin had damaged 15-20 olive trees in the Baron
Der olive grove.
There was positive breakthrough on two outstanding issues dealing with
the physical condition of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
For decades, the roof of the Church of the Nativity was in need of
restoration, having fallen into a serious state of disrepair. Divergent
positions among the three custodian churches, the Greek Orthodox, the
Armenian Orthodox and the Custos of the Holy Land had been preventing
an agreement in the Status Quo Committee, mainly due to the position of
the Greek Orthodox that they alone had the right to conduct the
restoration. Endeavoring to resolve this impasse, the Status Quo
Committee reached the decision to refer the matter to the Palestinian
Authority, requesting that the Authority undertake the supervision of
the roof restoration.
The three custodian communities of the Holy Places also have
successfully reached an agreement in the Status Quo Committee on the
restoration of lavatories in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This
issue had been a contentious one for decades until intensive
negotiations yielded a breakthrough. The renovation work has begun on
ten lavatories, the 6,000 cost to be shared equally by the three
custodian communities.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem needs the financial support of
each Armenian community worldwide to preserve and maintain the
priceless legacy of heritage and presence left by past generations of
faithful pilgrims in the Holy Land. Time, attention, prayers and
donations are all essential to the success of Armenian Jerusalem.