JERUSALEM: Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergy clash in Church of Holy Sepulchre

Record ID: 374739

  • Title: JERUSALEM: Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergy clash in Church of Holy Sepulchre
  • Date: 9th November 2008
  • Summary: (BN10) JERUSALEM (NOVEMBER 9, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARMENIAN CHRISTIANS PRAYING IN CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE VARIOUS OF ARMENIAN PATRIARCH LEADING PRAYERS WOMEN PRAYING (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ARMENIAN PATRIARCH DURING PROCESSION VARIOUS OF ARMENIAN WORSHIPPERS WALKING TOWARDS TOMB WHERE JESUS WAS BURIED ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN TRADITION
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA5N4JWILE0MH5NBMYIIZ2L88SU
  • Story Text: Greek Orthodox and Armenian worshippers traded blows on Sunday (November 9) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christian sects protect their hold over sections of the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion.
    Israeli police moved into the shrine, which faithful also believe contains the tomb of Jesus, to restore order and said they arrested two clerics.
    Dozens of worshipers, dressed in the vestments of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian sects, traded kicks and punches, knocking down tapestries and toppling decorations at the site in Arab East Jerusalem.
    One Greek orthodox clergyman who witnessed the incident said they had tried to protest peacefully.

    "We protested peacefully, we stood here in the middle and we claimed that we shall not leave the procession finished unless they leave our Guardian be inside. This didn't happen and in that moment the police interfered. We tried our best not to use violence against the police or against the Armenians because this is our attitude - peaceful, co-access on the holy sites," he said.
    An Armenian clergyman on site said the Greek clergy had tried to place their monk inside the tomb which is not permitted.

    "What is happening here is a violation of status quo the Greek have tried so many times to put their monk inside the tomb but they don't have the right to put their monk inside the tomb when the Armenians are celebrating the feast," he said The brawl erupted during the Feast of the Cross, a ceremony in which the Armenian community commemorates what it believes was the fourth century discovery of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
    Fights are not uncommon in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre among the representatives of Christian sects who are responsible for maintaining its different chambers.
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