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International Business Times
Dec 29 2011
Clergymen in a Broom Fight at the Birthplace of Jesus
By Amrutha Gayathri: Subscribe to Amrutha's RSS feed
December 29, 2011 2:09 AM EST
An annual cleaning ritual at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
one of the most sacred and oldest continuously operating churches in
the world, ended up in a broom fight between the rival clergy
belonging to three separate monastic communities.
The church built over a cave, which is traditionally regarded as the
birthplace of Jesus, is jointly administered by Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. According to convention,
the right to own a portion or structure of the Church lies with the
monastic community which cleans it up. This accepted practice may have
led to the clash between clergymen who accused each other of
encroachment by tidying up portions which didn't belong to the
community.
The ritualistic cleaning up of the church was part of the preparations
leading to Orthodox Christmas celebrations in January, the Associated
Press reported. Unlike the Western Christians who celebrate Christmas
on Dec. 25, Eastern Christians, who follow the Julian calendar (which
has a 13 day difference with the modern Gregorian calendar) celebrate
Christmas on Jan. 6, which translates as Jan. 7 for the rest of the
world. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian
Apostolic Church follow the Julian calendar, while the Roman Catholic
Church follows the Gregorian calendar.
The fight erupted between clerics tidying up the borders of their
respective portions, and the agitated monks were reportedly shouting
and hurling brooms at each other. Palestinian security men rushed to
break up the fight, which did not cause any serious human injury.
Clashes between Christian religious sects over the ownership of the
Church of the Nativity aren't new. The structure, which currently
occupies about 12,000 square meters, was one of the key causes that
led to French involvement in the Crimean war against Russia. The
dispute between Roman Catholic monks supported by France and the
Orthodox clergy supported by Russia, over the possession of keys of
the main door of the church, led to the Crimean war in the 1850s.
The preservation of the Church has been a major concern since 2008,
after it was placed in the watchlist of 100 most endangered sites by
the World Monument Fund. The Palestinian authorities announced a
restoration program in 2010.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/273856/20111229/clergymen-broom-fight-birthplace-jesus.htm
Dec 29 2011
Clergymen in a Broom Fight at the Birthplace of Jesus
By Amrutha Gayathri: Subscribe to Amrutha's RSS feed
December 29, 2011 2:09 AM EST
An annual cleaning ritual at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
one of the most sacred and oldest continuously operating churches in
the world, ended up in a broom fight between the rival clergy
belonging to three separate monastic communities.
The church built over a cave, which is traditionally regarded as the
birthplace of Jesus, is jointly administered by Roman Catholic, Greek
Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. According to convention,
the right to own a portion or structure of the Church lies with the
monastic community which cleans it up. This accepted practice may have
led to the clash between clergymen who accused each other of
encroachment by tidying up portions which didn't belong to the
community.
The ritualistic cleaning up of the church was part of the preparations
leading to Orthodox Christmas celebrations in January, the Associated
Press reported. Unlike the Western Christians who celebrate Christmas
on Dec. 25, Eastern Christians, who follow the Julian calendar (which
has a 13 day difference with the modern Gregorian calendar) celebrate
Christmas on Jan. 6, which translates as Jan. 7 for the rest of the
world. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian
Apostolic Church follow the Julian calendar, while the Roman Catholic
Church follows the Gregorian calendar.
The fight erupted between clerics tidying up the borders of their
respective portions, and the agitated monks were reportedly shouting
and hurling brooms at each other. Palestinian security men rushed to
break up the fight, which did not cause any serious human injury.
Clashes between Christian religious sects over the ownership of the
Church of the Nativity aren't new. The structure, which currently
occupies about 12,000 square meters, was one of the key causes that
led to French involvement in the Crimean war against Russia. The
dispute between Roman Catholic monks supported by France and the
Orthodox clergy supported by Russia, over the possession of keys of
the main door of the church, led to the Crimean war in the 1850s.
The preservation of the Church has been a major concern since 2008,
after it was placed in the watchlist of 100 most endangered sites by
the World Monument Fund. The Palestinian authorities announced a
restoration program in 2010.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/273856/20111229/clergymen-broom-fight-birthplace-jesus.htm