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Catholic Culture
July 30 2010
Jerusalem officials threaten to cut water supply for Church of the
Holy Sepulchre
July 30, 2010
City officials in Jerusalem are threatening to cut off the supply of
water for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the AsiaNews service
reports.
The city has provided free water service to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre for nearly a century, as a service to pilgrims and a
courtesy to the clerics who administered the shrine. But that
tradition'honored by British and Jordanian rulers, and continued by
Israeli officials'may not be in jeopardy. Church officials say that
the city is now asking for payment not only for current water usage,
but for usage dating back to the Israeli takeover of Jerusalem in
1967.
The status of Christian shrines in Israel'including their tax
treatment and the provision of public services'is not clearly
delineated because Israel and the Holy See have not yet reached
agreement on a long-awaited juridical agreement. The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre poses a particularly knotty case because its
administration is governed by a complicated agreement among the
various Christian denominations that work there: Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=7055
From: A. Papazian
July 30 2010
Jerusalem officials threaten to cut water supply for Church of the
Holy Sepulchre
July 30, 2010
City officials in Jerusalem are threatening to cut off the supply of
water for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the AsiaNews service
reports.
The city has provided free water service to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre for nearly a century, as a service to pilgrims and a
courtesy to the clerics who administered the shrine. But that
tradition'honored by British and Jordanian rulers, and continued by
Israeli officials'may not be in jeopardy. Church officials say that
the city is now asking for payment not only for current water usage,
but for usage dating back to the Israeli takeover of Jerusalem in
1967.
The status of Christian shrines in Israel'including their tax
treatment and the provision of public services'is not clearly
delineated because Israel and the Holy See have not yet reached
agreement on a long-awaited juridical agreement. The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre poses a particularly knotty case because its
administration is governed by a complicated agreement among the
various Christian denominations that work there: Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=7055
From: A. Papazian