The Meadville Tribune , PA
Jan 4 2012
Priest brawl in Bethlehem – Historical symbol
By James Drane
Meadville Tribune The Meadville Tribune Wed Jan 04, 2012, 08:37 PM EST
MEADVILLE – Priests in a public brawl inside the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem captured broad public attention around
Christmastime. Photos of priests, dressed in cassocks, hitting one
another with sticks and brooms, and throwing stones at one another,
have appeared in newspapers around the world.
This image of priests fighting inside a church is a symbol, a picture
that captures centuries of religious misunderstanding and scandalous
ways of handling religious differences. Religious differences continue
to fuel similar hostilities throughout the world. In the face of this
scandalous reality, decent religious persons have to pause and ask:
Are there not better ways of relating to one another and handling
religious differences?
Christianity, over the centuries, has split into thousands of
different denominations and communities. The fighting priests were
from two Eastern Orthodox communities: Greek Orthodox and Armenian
Orthodox. Together with Roman Catholic priests, they administer the
Church of the Nativity which was built over a grotto where Jesus is
believed to have been born. Each religious group claims control over a
certain section of the shrine, separated one from another by lines
drawn on the floor of the church.
Priests fighting inside a church creates a powerful portrait of the
whole Christian world. Thousands of different churches are separated
one from another by lines drawn not on a floor but on a text, or on a
theological conviction, or on a geographical territory. The
differences are between Western and Eastern Christianity, Roman and
Orthodox Catholics, Anglican and Continental Protestants, etc., etc.
The fighting priests symbolize the world-wide fragmentation of
Christianity and the scandalously hostile way different groups relate
to one another.
The Church divisions and associated hostilities have taken place over
the long history of Christianity. The earliest divisions took place
between the first followers of Jesus and groups of gnostics. The
Eastern-Western split began with Constantine in the early 4th century.
The Eastern churches were never centralized the way they were in the
West. Instead of a Roman pontiff who ruled over communities in many
different geographic areas, Eastern Orthodox bishops of a capital city
ruled over other bishops and the church in an ethnic area (Armenia,
Serbia, Russia, Greece, Ukrainia, etc.).
Some Eastern churches are united with Rome but most are not. The Greek
Orthodox and Armenian priests who were engaged in the public fight
were not responsible to any single church authority. The fighting that
took place in Bethlehem symbolizes the long historical fragmentation
of Eastern Christianity and the split between Eastern and Roman
Catholics.
For Christians in the West, fragmentation of the church began during
the Renaissance because of corruption within the papal system of
government. Certain reformers decided to break away from Rome rather
than carry out reform within the whole Western Church. One break-away
reform took place on the British Isles and was closely bound up with
the British monarchy beginning with Henry VIII (Anglican Reformation).
A different reform movement took place at different locations on the
European continent. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others were the major
reformers and their churches were united with rulers in different
geographic areas.
In every case there were lines drawn, followed by extensive fighting
and killing. The Reformation Movement which began in the early 16th
century, over the years split into thousands of different churches.
The priests fighting inside the church in Bethlehem create a shocking
image from which all Christians can learn something important. What
the priests were doing is what Catholics and Protestants have been
doing for centuries. It’s time to recognize this shocking reality and
to do something about it.
Who will speak for the millions of innocent men, women and children
who have been victims of this violence over the long history of
Christianity? When will some courageous members of the different
Christian communities stand up and announce: `Enough is enough. We
have had enough fighting, killing, criticizing, proving who is right
and drawing of lines. The priests fighting with one another is a
scandal and so are the on-going religious battles, competitions,
criticisms, prejudices. All this is scandalous because the moral core
of Christianity is: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.’
After so much fighting, where are the peace builders? Where are the
new images and the non-violent symbols of Christianity? Some peace
builders are out there. They need ordinary people from all the
different congregations in order to fill their ranks and expand an
ecumenical interdenominational campaign for peace and reconciliation.
Enough is enough. Love is what counts.
Drane is Russell B. Roth Professor of Bioethics at Edinboro University
of Pennsylvania.