United We Stay, Divided We Leave

Christians flee from the Holy Land for many reasons . . . including Christian on Christian infighting. Violence among monks again recently broke out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the church in the heart of Jerusalem's old city which marks the place of Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. As such, it is arguably Christianity's holiest site.

The fight broke out during an annual Armenian Orthodox procession commemorating the fourth-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus. It was sparked by the Greek Orthodox demand to post a monk inside the ancient structure built over the site of Jesus' tomb. When the Armenian Orthodox refused to admit the Greek Orthodox monk, more Greek monks blocked their path, and the brawl began. Israeli police rushed in to separate the fighting monks.

In the past monks and friars have started throwing punches over whose right it is to clean which step. The smallest slight can end in violence. For example in 2004, a door to the Roman Catholic chapel was left open during a Greek Orthodox ceremony. This was perceived by the Greeks to be a sign of disrespect, and another fight broke out which again had to be broken up by Israeli police. Another time, six years agao, when a monk moved a chair out of the sunshine into a shadier area during a heat-wave, his action was seen as an attempted land-grab. Again a fight broke out that left several monks needing hospital treatment.

Christians all have a stake in stopping this internecine warfare and uniting in addressing the issues that are driving Christians from the Holy Land. And add a comment here (or contact United Christian Communities at info@UnitedChristianCommunities.org ) if you have any cooments or any ideas about how we can do this. Letter-writing campaigns? Visits to the monks when we visit the Holy Land to let them know they must find other ways to settle their disputes? Grass roots activities can unite us.