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Endangered Site: Church of the Nativity, BethlehemExplore more photos from the story |
Feuding monks at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem don't just cast the first stone—they stockpile rocks in anticipation of future altercations. Several holy men landed in the hospital two Christmases ago after a fight broke out over the dusting of church chandeliers. The occasional brawls at the 1,700-year-old basilica, believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus Christ, reflect the difficulty of housing three Christian denominations under a single roof.
And now that roof is rotting, threatening the structural integrity of the building. Parts of the wooden truss structure date to the 15th century, and holes in the timbers allow dirty water to drip upon the precious paintings and mosaics below. The problem has been worsening for decades, but the resident clerics—from the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox churches and the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church—are jealous of each other's claims of custody and have been unable to agree on a plan of action. Despite the Palestinian Authority's recent effort to intervene, historians despair of saving the place.
"It is in the direst need of the greatest care," says Jaroslav Folda, a University of North Carolina professor emeritus of art history who studies the Crusader paintings on the basilica's red limestone columns. "This church is one of the holiest sites in Christianity. It is the victim here."
The fortresslike basilica is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world, having survived—some would say miraculously—various invasions, regime changes, fires, earthquakes and, most recently, the 2002 siege of Bethlehem, when armed Palestinians hid in the church from Israeli forces for weeks. Some wonder if the church has been spared only to be destroyed by the people who cherish it the most. The atmosphere of hostility "taints the holy place," says the Rev. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, a Roman Catholic priest who teaches archaeology at the École Biblique in Jerusalem.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, which controls Bethlehem, promised last November that his government would help organize a roof restoration effort and set up a fund for donations. But money isn't the issue. In fact, all three churches seem to want the historic privilege of picking up at least part of the tab, as a means of edging out the competition.
The Church of the Nativity was built around A.D. 330 by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine and was mostly destroyed—possibly during a Samaritan rebellion in A.D. 529—though parts of the original mosaic floor remain. Soon after, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian rebuilt the church in a bigger, grander fashion—largely the structure that remains today. In A.D. 614, the Persians, who razed many other churches during wars with Byzantium, spared the Church of the Nativity, supposedly out of respect for a mosaic of the Magi shown wearing Persian attire.
When the Crusaders conquered the Holy Land in 1099, they sent a force of 100 knights to guard the church; eventually, artists from this era embellished the building with their own mosaics and column paintings of saints, done in the rare encaustic method, with pigment suspended in wax.
Political control of Bethlehem has flip-flopped many times since. (The church's famous entrance, the four-foot-high "Door of Humility," was built not to make pilgrims bow but rather to repel looters on horse- and camel-back after the Crusades.) The question of which Christians had the rights to what parts of the church eventually got so tense that the Ottoman sultans, who ruled over Palestine from the 1500s through World War I, instigated an unwritten system now known as the Status Quo, which mandates that things be done as they were always done. Anyone who has previously processioned down a certain aisle, used a particular cupboard or hung a given tapestry has exclusive rights to that task or item.
However, if someone else manages to use or care for an object, ownership passes to them.
"You know, 'If you break it, you buy it'?" says Adam Porter, an associate professor of religion at Illinois College. "Well, this is, 'If you clean it, you own it.'"
The highly publicized fight at Christmas two years ago was essentially a territorial dispute. The Greeks were cleaning an Armenian-controlled part of the church, and custom dictated that they could dust the chandeliers by standing on a ladder set up in an appointed place. But the Greeks tried to move their ladder, encroaching on Armenian turf.
"Well," says Raymond Cohen, an international relations professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "they had to know this was like waving a red rag in front of a bull."
Religious officials in the region say that what seem like petty scuffles are part of a larger struggle.
"Our concern would be if we stood back and did not try to defend the rights of two billion Catholics," says the Rev. Garret Edmunds, a Franciscan friar who is the Vice Commissary of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C. and lives in Jerusalem for half the year. "Even things less consequential than replacing a roof, like cleaning a step, are important. If the [Greek Orthodox] were allowed to repair the roof without complaint or concern, 100 years from now they could say, 'In 2008, we paid for the roof and that is a sign of our ownership.'"
Cohen says the Palestinian Authority's intervention is a promising sign—not because of the funds it might raise, but because it represents outside leadership. He wrote a book about another charged restoration project at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which was badly damaged after a 1927 earthquake. With later supervision from the Jordanian government, the custodial churches were able to begin negotiations, which lasted a mere ten years.
"Do I think the repairs [to the Church of the Nativity] will happen in the near future? I don't, but you have to start somewhere," Cohen says. "Sometimes the behavior is so childish—you can't believe these are grown men. You've got to knock heads together and say, 'Guys, we're taking charge.' "
Comments
Someone or some group needs to visit this church and keep repeating Jesus' words, "Love thine enemy, pray for the people who persecute you". Maybe then it will sink in that they have not followed Jesus in good faith and it is never to late to do so.
Posted by Debbie on February 26,2009 | 11:30PM
Don't those feuding monks realize that they are doing the devil's work by all their fighting! How they must be causing pain to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
Posted by Viola Aldridge on February 27,2009 | 06:54AM
Greetings Pray The Door Of Humility will be the key for The Peace Of Christ to dwell in the Chruch Of The Nativity & the world. Prayerfully v
Posted by V Weber on February 27,2009 | 10:13AM
What bad examples these different groups set for Christians! These men of God and Jesus must be laughed at by the non-Christians in the region and the world, how ashamed I am of these groups that fight over such petty things as ownership! If they love Jesus so much they need to grow up and act like the men of God they profess to be and agree they share a holy place of Jesus and all Christians no matter the sect. It does not belong to any of them it belongs to God and to the People. They can agree to split the costs and then put in writing that the customs will remain the same but ownership is to be split 3 ways and responsibility. Time to put away childish things gentlemen! Maybe there should be a group of cloistered Nuns from all three sects given control of the Church and to work out the differences. Sad, sad, sad.
Posted by Linda on February 27,2009 | 10:46AM
Silly. Put in an equal share of the cost.
Posted by Tom on February 27,2009 | 10:46AM
This fight gives a bad name to Christianity
Posted by Celia Morawek on February 27,2009 | 11:59AM
They are doing the devils work and destroying Chritianity from withinThey should be humble and share the cost of repairs and not let Satan triumph. The church belongs to God.
Posted by A. John B. Nazareth on February 27,2009 | 07:22PM
Insanity. PRIDE (of ownership) - seems to be THE weapon used by the devil all around the world to cause wars, abortion, racism, domestic violence, greed, vanity, decadence etc. and we must beware of it's power to destroy. Humility by these immature 'men' and the world today in general, in acknowledging the supremity of God alone and no one else, would be a greater example of Christian solidarity to non-Christians, than for each sect to hypocritically perform elaborate services in the Church after their altercations.
Posted by Maureen on February 28,2009 | 12:01AM
how a shame they are all christians but they are the ones who are fighting to each other why this should be happening?
Posted by endthefight on February 28,2009 | 12:11AM
No matter how long - or how hard they fight with each other...the important thing to remember is that CHRISTIANITY WILL SURVIVE!
Posted by Leo Valovich on February 28,2009 | 06:30AM
The holiness of the grounds will always remain for those in touch with the holy spirit and God's word. True example of works of the flesh causing problems! Christ's birth in a stable is far from being represented.
Posted by Jen Freund on March 1,2009 | 07:29AM
There is really only one way to repair the church, and that is for non-Christians to do it. However, with Bethlehem now a town with a Moslem majority, the sensible thing would be for the PA to subcontract the job to a Jewish Israeli firm. That way, the work would be done, and everyone could criticize everyone else.
Posted by Antigonos on March 7,2009 | 04:14AM
We tried to visit the church in March, 2008, but there was so much conflict that it was deemed unsafe. We were very disappointed, and angry that the people there seem to forget that this belongs to Christianity, not just them.
Posted by Nan Susan Hart on March 8,2009 | 12:11PM
It is a sad commentary of any Christian sect that everything it professes to teach to others of the ideal Christian behavior is so lacking in the way they handle the most holy of Christian places. Is this what Christ was teaching so long ago, or has it become so twisted by the need of a few to have absolute control over others? Man has not seemed to understand what Christ said applied to each of us.
Posted by Jeanette Samuels on March 11,2009 | 06:51PM
I visited this place in 1994. It is amazing that it is still standing, even in the face of pride & prejudice & all that goes with it. How can these people who profess to love our Lord Jesus Christ act the way they do? This does not reflect well on Christianity. In this day & time we are confused as to who can stand up to hostility & hate by those who stand for this or that religion, expecting all who look upon them to understand. This building stands today as a monument to the faith that many do not recognize, understand, nor care about. Now we are involved in a war against terrorism, & I wonder if we will ever live in peace. Jesus is said to have wept over Jerusalem - I am sure he still weeps.
Posted by Lynda Reynolds on August 12,2009 | 07:40PM
It's obvious these men don't have the Holy Spirit in them. If they love Jesus, they would know that this place belongs to God, not them. They're like the Pharisees. I can tell your hearts are with Jesus. We need to pray for them.
Posted by Elaina on September 25,2009 | 12:47PM