2 Clergymen Arrested After Brawl Between Monks Next to Jesus' Tomb Site

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2 Clergymen Arrested After Brawl Between Monks Next to Jesus' Tomb Site



Nov. 9: Israeli police scuffle with an Armenian monk next to the site traditionally believed to be the tomb of Jesus Christ.

JERUSALEM — Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergymen after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb.

The clash broke out between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

It began as Armenian clergymen marched in an annual procession commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus. It ended with the arrival of dozens of riot policemen who separated the sides, seizing a bearded Armenian monk in a red-and-pink robe and a black-clad Greek Orthodox monk with a bloody gash on his forehead. Both men were taken away in handcuffs.

Six Christian sects divide control of the ancient church. They regularly fight over turf and influence, and Israeli police are occasionally forced to intervene.

The feud revolves around a demand by the Greek Orthodox to post a monk inside the Edicule — the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus — during the Armenian procession. The Armenians refused, and when they tried to march the Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way.

"We were keeping resistance so that the procession could not pass through ... and establish a right that they don't have," said a young Greek Orthodox monk with a cut next to his left eye. The monk, who gave his name as Serafim, said he sustained the wound when an Armenian punched him from behind and broke his glasses.

Father Pakrat of the Armenian Patriarchate said the Greek demand was "against the status quo arrangement and against the internal arrangement of the Holy Sepulcher." He said the Greeks attacked first.

Archbishop Aristarchos, the chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, said his monks had not initiated the violence. "I'm sorry that these events happened in front of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the most holy religious monument of Christianity," he said.

After the brawl, the church was crowded with Israeli police holding assault rifles and equipped with riot gear, standing beside Golgotha, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, and the long smooth stone marking the place where tradition holds his body was laid out.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449150,00.html

[Fuzz]

1. Praise Jesus.

[Starry Messenger]

2. Sounds like something straight out of Life of Brian.

"Six Christian sects divide control of the ancient church. They regularly fight over turf and influence, and Israeli police are occasionally forced to intervene."


Jesus would be proud.

[peekaloo]

3. Turf Wars: Bloods vs Crypts

Blessed are the Cheesemakers

[acmavm]

4. I'm sure Jesus is proud as punch of these guys.

:sarcasm:

[Bluenorthwest]

5. The place is wild, man, wild...

and it has been like this for centuries. In fact, the fighting among the sects over who got to hold the keys to the front door lead to those keys being held by a Muslim family each night for the last 800 years. That's 800 years. And still they fight.

[curse of greyface]

6. This happens every year. Actually the fighting at Christmas is particularly funny. nt

[aquart]

7. I'm going to treasure this.

[Golden Raisin]

8. Blessed are the peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9

Jesus would be SO proud. :sarcasm: He didn't say, "Blessed are those who kick the other mother-f#@%ers in the ass."

[pscot]

9. A large wooden crucifix

makes a surprisingly effctive cudgel.