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New York Magazine
Dec 28 2011
Monks Do Not Like It When You Try to Clean Their Space
By Dan Amira
Generally, people don't like to clean. If your roommate offered to
scrub the toilet, do the dishes, and sweep the floors for you, you'd
probably be all right with that. Things are apparently a little
different with monks, we learned today. At the Church of the Nativity
in Bethlehem, rival gangs of monks - Greek Orthodox and Armenian -
hurled brooms at each other during a cleaning session of the church,
which they share. The AP explains:
The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas
celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western
Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the
border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms....
A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the
ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to
own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other
sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at
another's expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same
late-December cleaning effort in the past.
That's the Christmas spirit.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/12/rival-monks-battle-with-brooms-in-church.html
Dec 28 2011
Monks Do Not Like It When You Try to Clean Their Space
By Dan Amira
Generally, people don't like to clean. If your roommate offered to
scrub the toilet, do the dishes, and sweep the floors for you, you'd
probably be all right with that. Things are apparently a little
different with monks, we learned today. At the Church of the Nativity
in Bethlehem, rival gangs of monks - Greek Orthodox and Armenian -
hurled brooms at each other during a cleaning session of the church,
which they share. The AP explains:
The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas
celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western
Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the
border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms....
A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the
ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to
own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other
sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at
another's expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same
late-December cleaning effort in the past.
That's the Christmas spirit.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/12/rival-monks-battle-with-brooms-in-church.html