Tuesday, March 22, 2005
DID I READ THAT RIGHT ?
It's the sort of story that produces a double take for me anyway. I read it, stopped, thought for a minute, then read it again. Yes, it really did say what I thought it had said. The story comes from the Washington Times and was sent in by a reader:
Worshippers at Jerusalem's churches are braced for a violent Easter as relations between warring Christian clergy deteriorate to their most acrimonious level in decades.
Government officials called meetings with representatives from the churches and police last week after religious leaders warned of possible violence among priests during services.
The story goes on to tell of an incident last September:
The remarkable scenes took place just a few feet from the holiest shrine in Christendom, where believers say Jesus rose from the dead.
The procession was led by the Greek patriarch, Irineos I, elected four years ago and blamed by senior clergy from other churches for fomenting unrest. The fight was captured on video by a Palestinian photographer and a copy of the film, which never has been made public, has been obtained by the Sunday Telegraph.
Patriarch Irineos can be seen telling his monks to close the door of the Franciscan chapel by force. In the ensuing commotion, a Franciscan priest, Father Athanasius, who represents the Catholic Church's interests at the Holy Sepulcher, is dragged off by several monks, who appear to punch and kick him.
Frankly, it conjures up visions of the squabbles in the backyard sandbox. Not a pretty sight, and wholly unbecoming of a priest. Don't their vestments get in the way?
Must be something in the water over there, or have they spent too much time in the sun and fried their brains? Maybe they should think about discontinuing the processions during hot weather. This is surely not what Christ had in mind when he foretold that brother would rise against brother. Or is it?
