Palestinian government forced to save birthplace of Christ as monks
squabble over restoration
The monks who tend the grotto under the Byzantine basilica of the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem should enjoy lives of quiet,
meditative service to the lofty ideals of their faith.
By Tim Butcher in Bethlehem and Angus McDowall
Daily Telegraph/UK
Last Updated: 6:53PM GMT 20 Dec 2008
When they wash the grotto’s marbled altar and guard its silver lamps,
they are watching over the cradle of the Christian world: the exact
spot where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born.
Yet despite this sacred trust, a ten-year row between the different
sects that manage the church has forced the Palestinian government’s
Muslim leaders to intervene to prevent the basilica’s ancient lead roof
from collapsing on its mosaic floors.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian national authority, has
taken the unprecedented step of issuing a decree that the church must
be repaired.
The move comes as the venerable but rather run-down building next to
Manger Square in the centre of Bethlehem braces itself for its busiest
time of year, when tens of thousands of pilgrims, including many from
overseas, will converge there for a series of services.
"It is excellent news for Christians, not just here in the Holy Land,
but all over the world," said Issa Kassissieh, a Christian member of
the Palestinian government. "The Church of the Nativity represents much
to the Palestinians as well as to the Christian world."
So tattered has the roof become that pilgrims inside the church were
forced, during heavy rainstorms, to shelter under umbrellas and watch
water cascade down the Crusade-era murals adorning the basilica walls.
But while the rafters rotted above them, the Armenian Orthodox,
Franciscan and Greek Orthodox monks who share guardianship of the site
fell to blows over the territory controlled by each sect.
In one incident, in 2007, the long-bearded monks scuffled, using fists,
brooms and iron rods, simply because one group had tried to wash parts
of a wall claimed by another.
That fight, however, was nothing compared to the dispute over the
maintenance of the church. According to the World Monuments Fund, a
United Nations body that listed the church as one of the 100 most
endangered sites in the world, the basilica’s custodians have failed to
collaborate on its repair for almost 1,000 years.
Furthermore, a botched repair, organised unilaterally by the Greeks a
few years ago, only made things worse by accelerating the rate at which
roof timbers rotted.
The Palestine Exploration Fund, a British charity founded in the 19th
century to preserve the monuments of the Holy Land, described the
roof’s condition as "nothing short of a scandal".
Discreetly announced in a Jerusalem paper, Mr Abbas’ decree was careful
to say the three groups would be fully consulted by a special committee
set up by the Palestinian authorities.
But there was no hiding the sense of frustration at the bickering
between the sects that had threatened a shrine which is one of the
greatest tourist attractions in the Holy Land.
His intervention, however, appears to have worked where religious
harmony did not: the heads of the three churches have agreed to put
aside their squabbles and accept the planned renovation.
Architectural and archaeological experts expressed their delight at the
news of the presidential decree.
"That is really wonderful, a very positive step after so many decades
of nothing," said Rupert Chapman, of the Middle East department at the
British Museum.
But while the decree represents progress, the Palestinian government is
aware of the acute sensitivities involved and wants to make sure that
no one country, organisation or faith takes control of the work.
To that end, a special "blind" fund will be set up, and donors will be
able to contribute funds anonymously to pay for a full survey of the
church and the eventual restoration.
Theophilos III, patriarch of the local Greek orthodox church which
traces its roots back to the earliest Byzantine Christians in the Holy
Land, said preserving the church was of critical importance. "This Holy
Place is associated not just with the birth of Jesus Christ but with
the later birth and growth of Christianity," he said from his office in
the patriarchate inside the Old City of Jerusalem.
"It played a central role in the history of Christianity and that role
has gone on for two thousand years until even today."
Unilateral action by the local authority is not unprecedented in
Bethlehem to get around problems between the three Christian
communities.
In the early 1920s, the local British military commander responsible
for the Holy Land, Sir Ronald Storrs, decided to take action after the
three groups could not agree on an unsightly wall built by the Greeks
in front of the altar at the Church of the Nativity.
He simply invoked his authority as the local governor and had the wall
taken down.
Visitors today have Sir Ronald’s chutzpah to thank for the unblocked
view of the altar. And future visitors who will no longer need
umbrellas inside the church might come to owe a similar debt to Mr
Abbas.