-Caveat Lector-
Holy Sepulcher Guardians Slam Door on Portal Plan
Church: Israel cites safety in bid to open a second entry. But 6
denominations at site decry move as infringing on their turf.
By TRACY WILKINSON, Times Staff Writer
JERUSALEM--Pushing through the single, medieval portal of the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, worshipers, priests and pilgrims jostle for space. Smoky
perfumes of frankincense and myrrh mingle in the air. The flickering light of
hundreds of candles bounces off gilded mosaics and silver chalices. Rhythmic
liturgical chants in Latin, Greek, Aramaic and other ancient tongues echo and
clash through the cool, dark chambers of Christianity's most sacred shrine.
Any morning inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is an assault on the
senses, an experience in otherworldly rapture for the deeply pious--and a
confusing mess for the less spiritually moved.
For this is where most Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried
and resurrected. No fewer than six Christian denominations physically share
this holiest of churches, and its hodgepodge of architecture, decoration and
ceremony reflects centuries of turbulent competition among the faiths for
domination and control.
Millions of visitors to Jerusalem count the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
as their most important destination, and with the advent of the millennium,
millions more are expected to make the pilgrimage.
And that is exactly what has Israeli authorities worried. The church has
just one entryway, a heavy wooden door about 6 feet wide and hundreds of
years old. So far, despite months of negotiation, the authorities have failed
to persuade the church's Christian guardians to open a planned second door in
time for the anticipated millennium crush.
It is a disaster waiting to happen, Israeli government officials say.
But the government is also reluctant to impose an emergency exit on the
church. Israel is already in hot water with the Christian world because of
its decision to allow construction of a mosque near another Christian shrine
in Nazareth, the town of Jesus' boyhood. Even the Vatican has reacted with
uncharacteristically blunt fury.
The denominations that control the Holy Sepulcher have likewise made it
clear that they do not welcome Israeli interference.
"We do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem," said Wadi
abu Nassar, a spokesman for the Latin, or Roman Catholic, patriarch. And, he
added, a new door could be seen as tipping the balance of power among the
churches.
Indeed, the denominations' mistrust of Israel is second only to their
mistrust of one another.
Three main religions--Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian--have
principal custody of the church under an edict issued in 1852 by the ruling
Ottoman sultan and known as the Status Quo. Three additional denominations,
Coptic, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian Christian, are given space within the
church, portions of which date to the 4th century.
The jealousy with which each faction guards its interests, status and
turf is legendary. Disagreement has blocked or delayed even the most
fundamental renovation projects. The purported tomb of Christ, the
centerpiece of the church, remains encased in rusted scaffolding erected more
than half a century ago by British Mandate governors seeking to repair
earthquake damage. The factions cannot decide how to go about removing the
scaffolding, even though it is a harsh blemish on the one feature that
pilgrims will queue for hours to behold.
"The timetable of the churches is not the timetable of the modern
world," said Uri Mor, the Israeli government's liaison to the Christian
community and a principal proponent of opening a new door. "It took them 30
years to agree to paint the cupola. It took another 30 years to repair some
of the arches. So now we don't have 30 years, maybe only two months, but I
think they understand the situation."
Israel has a responsibility to guarantee the safety of visiting
pilgrims, Mor said, but also must enforce the Status Quo, maintain the
delicate balance that exists within the church and respect the will of the
denominations. Unilateral action by Israel would also stir the wrath of
Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, which maintains its own claims for
influence over the holy shrines.
As the controversy over the door shows, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
is really a metaphor for the region, where historically adversarial peoples
crammed in a small space struggle for a share of land and power. No faction
is willing to cede anything that might take away from its own position or
give another faction advantage.
"You might say it's childish, that it's un-Christian," said Daniel
Rossing, an expert on interfaith relations and the Holy Sepulcher. "But this
is the reality of Jerusalem."
Under the Status Quo agreement, the congregations that control and
worship in the Holy Sepulcher follow a detailed schedule for their Masses and
rituals, down to when the Ethiopians can scatter incense and where the Greeks
can hang icons. It divides the real estate of the Holy Sepulcher column by
column, stone by stone.
One wide marble column, behind Jesus' tomb, is quite literally half
Greek Orthodox, half Armenian.
"They constantly work out ways so that everyone can say, 'It's mine,' "
said Rossing, former head of the Christian Department in the Israeli
Religious Affairs Ministry. "It is a playing of games. But it works."
Rossing and others note that the Christian denominations are minorities
in the Middle East and feel besieged in a battle to preserve their cultural,
linguistic, liturgical and ethnic traditions.
"The mind-set is that if I give up an inch, then that's it. It's over,"
Rossing said. "And then, of course, look at the real estate that's involved.
It is not just any door, not just any step. It's the Holy Sepulcher."
And so, although the churches agreed in November 1998 to construct an
emergency door, probably in an area controlled by the Greeks, they have yet
to agree on the details: In what direction should its corridor lead? Through
the Copts' chapel or through the Ethiopians' rooftop Deir al Sultan area? Who
should get the keys? Who will decide what constitutes an emergency?
Mor asked a committee led by Internal Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami
to make the decisions. But the committee, unwilling to impose a ruling on the
churches, punted. Ben-Ami is holding meetings with various church leaders in
search of a compromise.
"If they do not agree on a door, then the police may not have any choice
but to limit the number of people who can enter," Mor said.
The nightmare scenario that he fears could occur with the annual Eastern
Orthodox Easter Ceremony of Fire. Every year, about 17,000 worshipers crowd
into the church to watch their patriarch emerge from Jesus' tomb with a
blazing torch. He then lights thousands of candles held aloft by the packed
pilgrims. Once last century, a fire broke out that killed an estimated 500
worshipers.
Dilapidated and divided, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is sandwiched
between mosques and souvenir kiosks in the Old City. Pilgrims trace the route
fabled as Jesus' final path, the Stations of the Cross, often carrying
replica wooden crosses on their backs. They end up at the Holy Sepulcher.
Inside, crowds of worshipers stop to pray at the Stone of Unction,
representing the place where Jesus' body was anointed with aloes and oils
after his crucifixion. A woman goes by on her knees. Another is prostrate. A
Norwegian Cruise Line tour group steps gingerly by her while a Franciscan
friar in cassocks keeps the lines moving.
A narrow half-circle of steep stairs leads to two chapels, one Catholic,
one Greek Orthodox, stacked over the purported Rock of Golgotha, where
tradition holds that Christ was nailed to the cross. A visitor need step only
feet to go from Byzantine mosaics to Armenian tiles to ancient Jewish graves.
It is a cacophony of sights, sounds and smells, more peculiar than
beautiful, more aggressive than tranquil.
A British pastor, overwhelmed by the jumble around him, stopped his
small tour group for prayer during a visit the other day. "Lord," he began,
inhaling deeply, "we rejoice in all the ways you can be worshiped. And at the
same time, we take sorrow in all these signs of human frailty."
During the time of the Crusaders, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher had a
dozen or so doors. The Muslim warrior Saladin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187,
ending the Crusaders' reign. He expelled them but allowed some Christian
priests to continue to work from the church. However, to keep tabs on who
entered the site, he ordered all its doors sealed save half of the main
portal.
In addition, he entrusted the single key to the single door to a single
Muslim family, ensuring control over access--and avoiding having to favor
either Latin or Eastern Christians. To this day, the Joudeh family retains
control of the key. A second Muslim family, the Nusseibehs, has for centuries
assisted in opening and closing the door in a daily ritual.
Every morning around dawn, Abed Joudeh, 69, draws the long slender key
from his leather briefcase and hands it to Wajih Nusseibeh, 48, who climbs a
ladder and unlocks the door. The procedure is reversed in the evening.
Neither Joudeh nor Nusseibeh is thrilled with the idea of a second door,
fearing that their own monopoly would be eroded.
"For 800 years, we've had one entrance," Nusseibeh said. "There's plenty
of room. I don't see the problem."
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