Tweet
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
December 22, 2006 Friday
'Bethlehem wall' shock for Williams as he leads pilgrimage
Tim Butcher in Bethlehem
DR ROWAN Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was visibly shocked
yesterday as he encountered the 30ft high security wall built by
Israel around Bethlehem when he led a pilgrimage of British Church
leaders to the birthplace of Christ.
The party had to request special permission from the Israeli
authorities to be allowed to walk the section of the ancient
pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem now cut by the
screen of grey concrete.
Erected by Israel as protection from suicide bombers, the wall around
Bethlehem has come to symbolise the festering Israeli-Palestinian
conflict that continues to divide the Holy Land after decades of
bloodshed.
Dr Williams, wearing a simple black vestment with a purple sash,
accompanied by Greek Orthodox bishops in cowls and turbaned members
of the Ethiopian Coptic church, walked in silence past heavily armed
Israeli border guards and underneath a watchtower with bullet-proof
glass.
The pilgrimage was designed as a gesture of solidarity with the
declining Christian community of Bethlehem, a community that blames
the wall for turning their home into an economically backward ghetto.
"We're here to say that the sufferings of the people here are ours
too,'' Dr Williams said.
"We want to share them, we want to do what we can to alleviate them
and we hope to see a Bethlehem that is open for all pilgrims.''
He was joined on the ecumenical pilgrimage by three other British
Church leaders: the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor; the Free Churches Moderator, the Reverend David
Coffey and the Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain,
Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.
Mr Coffey was also clearly moved by the sight of the wall. "We are
here to show solidarity with all the people of Israel-Palestine,'' he
said.
"But I have to admit feeling a strong sense of shock when I first saw
the wall.
"It was overwhelming to see it in a place where a child was once born
who grew into a man whose life was all about tearing down walls.''
After walking through the wall, the party was driven to the start of
a four station pilgrimage vigil through the tight, cobbled alleys of
Bethlehem, that started at Star Gate and passed through Manger
Square.
It culminated in the grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity, the
exact location revered by Christians as the site where Jesus was
born.
The party sang carols, including O Little Town of Bethlehem, but
there was little sign of seasonal cheer in the town itself.
The local authorities fear this Christmas will see only a fraction of
the pilgrims they would normally expect, adding to the economic
pressure already felt in the occupied territories because of the
financial boycott on the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
After prayers and readings from the Old and New Testaments, the
pilgrims were given a few private minutes of reflection in the
grotto.
Dr Williams prostrated himself and then lowered his face to the metal
star on the marble floor that marks the site where Jesus was born.
December 22, 2006 Friday
'Bethlehem wall' shock for Williams as he leads pilgrimage
Tim Butcher in Bethlehem
DR ROWAN Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was visibly shocked
yesterday as he encountered the 30ft high security wall built by
Israel around Bethlehem when he led a pilgrimage of British Church
leaders to the birthplace of Christ.
The party had to request special permission from the Israeli
authorities to be allowed to walk the section of the ancient
pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem now cut by the
screen of grey concrete.
Erected by Israel as protection from suicide bombers, the wall around
Bethlehem has come to symbolise the festering Israeli-Palestinian
conflict that continues to divide the Holy Land after decades of
bloodshed.
Dr Williams, wearing a simple black vestment with a purple sash,
accompanied by Greek Orthodox bishops in cowls and turbaned members
of the Ethiopian Coptic church, walked in silence past heavily armed
Israeli border guards and underneath a watchtower with bullet-proof
glass.
The pilgrimage was designed as a gesture of solidarity with the
declining Christian community of Bethlehem, a community that blames
the wall for turning their home into an economically backward ghetto.
"We're here to say that the sufferings of the people here are ours
too,'' Dr Williams said.
"We want to share them, we want to do what we can to alleviate them
and we hope to see a Bethlehem that is open for all pilgrims.''
He was joined on the ecumenical pilgrimage by three other British
Church leaders: the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor; the Free Churches Moderator, the Reverend David
Coffey and the Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain,
Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.
Mr Coffey was also clearly moved by the sight of the wall. "We are
here to show solidarity with all the people of Israel-Palestine,'' he
said.
"But I have to admit feeling a strong sense of shock when I first saw
the wall.
"It was overwhelming to see it in a place where a child was once born
who grew into a man whose life was all about tearing down walls.''
After walking through the wall, the party was driven to the start of
a four station pilgrimage vigil through the tight, cobbled alleys of
Bethlehem, that started at Star Gate and passed through Manger
Square.
It culminated in the grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity, the
exact location revered by Christians as the site where Jesus was
born.
The party sang carols, including O Little Town of Bethlehem, but
there was little sign of seasonal cheer in the town itself.
The local authorities fear this Christmas will see only a fraction of
the pilgrims they would normally expect, adding to the economic
pressure already felt in the occupied territories because of the
financial boycott on the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
After prayers and readings from the Old and New Testaments, the
pilgrims were given a few private minutes of reflection in the
grotto.
Dr Williams prostrated himself and then lowered his face to the metal
star on the marble floor that marks the site where Jesus was born.