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APA, Azerbaijan
Nov 4 2012
Kremlin to Address Holy Sepulchre Church Row
[ 04 Nov 2012 06:34 ]
Baku-APA. The Russian presidential administration will thoroughly
study a request for help from Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
Theophilos III over problems the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem is facing, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
Peskov told the Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio on Saturday that Moscow
will not remain indifferent to the request in Theophilos's letter he
sent to the Russian leader.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has threatened to close its doors to
pilgrims and tourists as its bank account has been frozen over an
accumulated debt for water supplies.
The church, which has been for centuries one of the most important
pilgrimage destinations for millions of Christians as the purported
site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is now
unable to pay salaries to its extensive staff of priests, monks and
teachers.
`If nothing changes we intend to announce within a few days, for the
first time in centuries, that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is
closed,' Theophilos III said on Friday.
Theophilos III wrote letters to the leaders of Russia, Israel, the
United States, Greece, Cyprus and Jordan with an appeal to intervene
with the standoff and put a stop `to this flagrant act against the
church.'
The church was exempt from water charges in a tacit agreement with
Jerusalem authorities for decades but the Hagihon company, which took
over water supply to Jerusalem in the late 1990s, has recently
demanded payment of a 9-million-shekel ($2.3 million) bill dating back
15 years, including interest.
The company insists that the Israeli laws do not exempt any party from
water charges and other religious institutions in Jerusalem pay their
bills on a regular basis.
Hagihon first sent a bill to the church for 3.7 million shekels (about
$950,000 at current rates) in 2004. Church officials then thought the
bill was sent by mistake, and the company did not make further steps
pressing for payment.
Now Hagihon has demanded payment of the bill, which has risen to 9
million shekels including interest.
The church says it is willing to pay for future utilities but has
asked Hagihon to write off the accumulated debt as it was the result
of an original misunderstanding.
Theophilos III also wrote letters to the leaders of Israel, the United
States, Greece, Cyprus and Jordan with an appeal to intervene with the
standoff and put a stop `to this flagrant act against the church.'
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem shares control of the
church with the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Roman Catholic
Franciscan Order through complicated arrangements essentially
unchanged for centuries.
The site, located within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City
of Jerusalem, attracts more than 1 million pilgrims annually.
Nov 4 2012
Kremlin to Address Holy Sepulchre Church Row
[ 04 Nov 2012 06:34 ]
Baku-APA. The Russian presidential administration will thoroughly
study a request for help from Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
Theophilos III over problems the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem is facing, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
Peskov told the Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio on Saturday that Moscow
will not remain indifferent to the request in Theophilos's letter he
sent to the Russian leader.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has threatened to close its doors to
pilgrims and tourists as its bank account has been frozen over an
accumulated debt for water supplies.
The church, which has been for centuries one of the most important
pilgrimage destinations for millions of Christians as the purported
site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is now
unable to pay salaries to its extensive staff of priests, monks and
teachers.
`If nothing changes we intend to announce within a few days, for the
first time in centuries, that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is
closed,' Theophilos III said on Friday.
Theophilos III wrote letters to the leaders of Russia, Israel, the
United States, Greece, Cyprus and Jordan with an appeal to intervene
with the standoff and put a stop `to this flagrant act against the
church.'
The church was exempt from water charges in a tacit agreement with
Jerusalem authorities for decades but the Hagihon company, which took
over water supply to Jerusalem in the late 1990s, has recently
demanded payment of a 9-million-shekel ($2.3 million) bill dating back
15 years, including interest.
The company insists that the Israeli laws do not exempt any party from
water charges and other religious institutions in Jerusalem pay their
bills on a regular basis.
Hagihon first sent a bill to the church for 3.7 million shekels (about
$950,000 at current rates) in 2004. Church officials then thought the
bill was sent by mistake, and the company did not make further steps
pressing for payment.
Now Hagihon has demanded payment of the bill, which has risen to 9
million shekels including interest.
The church says it is willing to pay for future utilities but has
asked Hagihon to write off the accumulated debt as it was the result
of an original misunderstanding.
Theophilos III also wrote letters to the leaders of Israel, the United
States, Greece, Cyprus and Jordan with an appeal to intervene with the
standoff and put a stop `to this flagrant act against the church.'
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem shares control of the
church with the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate and the Roman Catholic
Franciscan Order through complicated arrangements essentially
unchanged for centuries.
The site, located within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City
of Jerusalem, attracts more than 1 million pilgrims annually.