The Battle of Bethlehem: 100 rival priests clash at church built to
mark birth of Jesus
An extraordinary brawl between
clergymen broke out yesterday at the very site where Jesus is said to have been
born.
The annual cleaning of the Church
of the Nativity in Bethlehem descended into a battle between the rival
Christian denominations that share it.
Brooms, fists and vicious
insults flew in all directions between 100 priests and monks
dressed in their traditional robes.
Clash: Riot police are forced to defend themselves from
broom-wielding holy men at the traditionally accepted birthplace of Jesus
Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem
The fight ended only after Palestinian police, bending their heads
to squeeze through the church’s low ‘door of humility’, rushed in with batons
to restore order.
The row is believed to have begun
after a clergyman of one order – either Greek Orthodox or Armenian Apostolic –
accidentally pushed his broom into space ‘controlled’ by the other group.
Conflict is easily sparked by any
perceived encroachment of jurisdictional boundaries within the church, where
control is split between the two denominations along with Roman Catholics. All
three groups were cleaning the church for annual Orthodox Christmas
celebrations, which will be held next week.
Palestinian police lieutenant-colonel
Khaled al-Tamimi tried to play down the incident, saying there had been a
‘trivial problem’.
He added: ‘Everything is all right
and things have returned to normal. No one was arrested because all those
involved were men of God.’
The 6th century church is the oldest in the Holy Land and a
very fragile status quo governs relations among the three denominations. To
repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted
practice.
That means that letting other sects
clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another’s expense.
Tensions between rival clergy at the church have been a fact of life for
centuries and the site has often been caught up in international politics.
In the 19th century, tensions over
the church – and the wider issue of Orthodox Christians in Ottoman lands – was
a factor in the outbreak of the Crimean War.
Although the roof has needed urgent
work for decades, and leaking rainwater has ruined much of the priceless
artwork inside, renovation has been delayed for years by disagreements among
the denominations over who would foot the bill.
'Guarding their denominational turf': Clerics were said to be
defending their areas of the Church when the 100-strong scuffle broke out
Skirmish: A member from the Armenian clergy raises his arms as
Palestinian police officers try to restore order at the Church of Nativity
Officials hope work will begin next
year under a deal brokered by the Palestinian Authority.
In the annual clean-up session, the
entire church is swept, dusted and cleaned with kerosene to remove the grime of
the past 12 months in preparation for the onslaught of more pilgrims, clergy
and tourists.
Several hundred clergy take part
with help from worshippers. In the 1980s, monks battled each other with chains
and broomsticks over who had the right to clean a particular section of wall
and beams.
Keep back: The clashing denominations each control sections of the
church and fiercely guard their turf, which spilled over into violence in the
holy building
At one point a ladder was yanked
out from under a cleric, who was working 16ft overhead.
A fight over the dusting of
chandeliers at Christmas 2006 landed several men in the hospital after
the Greek Orthodox contingent placed a ladder in Armenian territory.
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, which is built on the traditional site of the crucifixion, has
seen similar incidents.
Peace restored: Palestinian special forces watch as Greek Orthodox
and Armenian clergy perform the annual cleaning of the church
This is what they should have been doing: Greek Orthodox clean the
floor of the Church of Nativity after the brawl
