The Holy Church of Sepulcher and Suplexes.

In her book “The Israelis, Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land” Donna Rosenthal focused a chapter on the traditionally diverse Christian population in Israel. She mentions the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to showcase the diversity of worldly denominations and the hostile yet sacred environment that surrounds the Christian community living in the Jewish State.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located in Jerusalem between Suq Khan e-Zeit and Christian Quarter Rd. According to the churches non-denominational website, Christians believe this is the site in which Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. The church holds the cross Jesus was hung on, the cave in which he was laid to rest (short rest), and also a rock known either as Calvary (Roman Catholic name) or Golgotha (Greek Orthodox name) that was present at his crucifixion. The first church was built on this land in the year 306 when Constantine conquered Jerusalem, destroying and rebuilding on top of the Roman temple for the God Venus that was supposedly constructed to hide the sacred site of Jesus. It has been an important and dramatic site of religious interest ever since. It has been destroyed by Muslim invaders twice, rebuilt and renovated by different Christian communities, and remains a major pilgrimage site for most Christians.

For centuries the various denominations of Christianity including but not limited to the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Franciscan, Syrian Orthodox, Egyptian, and Ethiopian Coptic clerics have argued and fought for control of the church. So much so that in 1852, the Ottoman government issued a mandate known as the “Status-Quo” that stated that the care of the Church of Holy Sepulchers is shared by the six denominations: the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox churches. The entire church grounds are carefully divided into sections, while some are commonly shared; some other parts are reserved to each particular sect.

This separation of ancient sacred space has caused a lot of drama even in recent times. According to Matti Friedman in his article titled “Christians feud over Church of Holy Sepulcher” a quarrel erupted in 2002 when a Coptic monk moved his chair into the shade and too close to the Ethiopians side, chaos ensued between the holy men and in the end 11 people were hospitalized for their holy battle wounds.

Fighting between the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian congregants over the rights to areas of the church during holidays has happened on multiple occasions recently. According to the BBC article “Monks brawl at Jerusalem Shrine”, both in 2002 and 2008 the two denominations have resorted to violence to challenge, push boundaries, or uphold the status quo that divides the Church of the Holy Sepulchers. The brawls have become youtube viral videos.

Rosenthal’s point of view reflected in her book “The Israelis” looks down upon the history of religious communities fighting over the church. She spends a great deal of the section on the church focusing on the violence and bickering. She also ends the discussion with a judgmental tone towards the holy men, telling them that they have much worse problems they should be paying attention too besides this religious landmarks status quo.

The church's website is supposedly from a non denominational point of view (certain denominations such as the Franciscans have their own sites for the Church). With this position the site doesn't seem to take a side to the discussion of fighting but does reveal the frustration of the slow process of any type of denominational cooperation in its language.

Matti Friedman’s point of view in his article “Christian’s feud over Church of Holy Sepulcher” is of disappointment towards the Christian groups that practice at their. He repeatedly refers to police involvement and his bewilderment on how to fix what he considers a ridiculous situation. Similarly the BBC article had a shocked point of view. The fighting is presented in a way that makes the situation seem unbelievable. Even in the title “Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine” makes the whole issue seem like a bad joke.

The information and data gathered for this blog from the various sources all seem reliable. The historical information from the church's website was cross checked with library and other reliable website sources. The information on denominational fighting in the BBC article and Matti Friedman’s article published in USA today is also trustworthy. The BBC is a respected news agency in regards to their data reliability and the same goes for USA today.

Israel is the land of sacred religious sites for all religious denominations. Israel is also the land of constant disputes and fighting. The Church of Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem represents both of these aspects of Israel’s identity.