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Tue, Feb 27 2007
DIVAN OF THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM
P.O. Box 14235
Jerusalem, Israel 91141
Tel: 9722-62282331; FAX: 6264861
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.armenian-patriarchate.org
21 February 2007
Patriarch asks for support on Holy Fire Ceremony
The following release was issued by the Divan of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Jerusalem. You can download PDF letter to send to officials regarding
the issue by clicking here.
The Holy Fire Ceremony
The Holy Fire Ceremony is a religious ceremony that takes place on the
Saturday of Holy Week, within the Tomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Christians believe that, during the ceremony, the Holy Fire descends from
Heaven and lights up the lamp within the Tomb of Christ, thereby
symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ and his victory over death. The
descent of the fire from heaven is one of the greatest miracles of
Christianity, being the divine revelation of Jesus himself. For this
reason, the Holy Saturday ceremony is the holiest one for the Eastern
Churches. These churches include the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox,
Coptic Orthodox and Jacobite-Syrians; all participate in the Holy Saturday
ceremony.
The ceremony is conducted according to precise and clear rules and
arrangements, which have been in existence for hundreds of years. These
rules were anchored in the Ottoman-period Status Quo arrangement for the
Holy Places. The material part of the ceremony, acceptance of the holy
fire, is conducted within the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre; the edicule
is made up of two chambers - the Angels Chapel and the Holy Tomb Chapel.
According to the centuries-old practice, at the highlight of the ceremony,
the Greek Patriarch and the Armenian Patriarch, or his representative,
enter the Holy Tomb together, kneel down in front of the Tomb together,
and witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire together.
The Holy Fire is transferred by the Greek Patriarch and the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, to members of the Eastern Churches
through two windows located in the wall of the Angel's Chapel.
During Easter of 2002, the newly elected Greek Patriarch, Irineos I, whose
first time it was participating in the abovementioned ceremony, incited a
conflict inside the Holy Tomb with the Armenian Patriarch's
representative, by demanding a deviation from the Status Quo arrangements.
Since that time, the issue remains unresolved.
According to the Greek Patriarch's statement regarding the ceremony in
2002, he said that the Armenian Bishop must not leave the Holy Tomb's
Chapel first, and demanded that he leave first, contrary to the binding
order of the ceremony. It is notable to mention that the predecessors of
Irineos I have entered the Holy Tomb's Chapel together with the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, for the Holy Fire Ceremony. The Greek
Metropolitan Archbishops Daniel and Cornelius have themselves been
witnesses to this.
Prior to the Holy Fire Ceremony of 2003, the Greek Patriarch altered his
previous statement and announced his objection in principle that the
Armenian Patriarch, or his representative, had no right to enter the Holy
Tomb's Chapel during the ceremony. In essence, he said the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, had no right to enter the Holy Tomb's
Chapel at all, witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, and
light his torch directly from the Holy Fire lamp.
Prior to the Easter celebrations of 2003, and after the Greek Patriarchate
refused every attempt at negotiation or compromise between the churches
within a forum of religious scholars, the State of Israel summoned both
parties around a table to solve the issue. Under Israeli Law, the
Government has the exclusive authority to attain an effective and fair
resolution of any dispute pertaining to the Holy Places in the Holy Land.
Instead of settling the issue immediately, and enforcing the Status Quo,
the Israeli government pretended to have a lack of knowledge regarding the
situation and requested that both churches present it with their evidence.
The government requested this evidence on what each side considered to be
the binding Status Quo arrangement, so that it could issue a decision
during the year preceding the 2004 ceremony. At the same time, the
churches and the Israeli police reached an interim confidential agreement
for the Holy Fire Ceremony of 2004 to ensure that peace and security
prevailed for the event. We believed that as soon as our evidence through
historic documents were presented, the Government would be able to decide
on the matter.
After the ceremony of 2004, we acted as agreed and conducted a thorough
investigation of not only our archives, but the archives of the Sharia
courts in Israel and abroad (including the Ottoman archives). We collected
the testimony of living witnesses who had conducted the Holy Fire Ceremony
as representatives of the Armenian Patriarch, and compiled various legal
documents and scientific books. We also hired the services of an expert,
Dr. Shmuel Berkovich, and furnished the Government with his expert opinion
to establish our position.
Dr. Berkovich concluded that the Armenian Patriarch, or his
representative, has had an exclusive right for hundreds of years to enter
the Holy Tomb on Holy Saturday together with the Greek Patriarch. He
continued to state that the Armenian Patriarch, or his representative, had
the right to kneel in front of the Holy Tomb together with the Greek
Patriarch, had the right to witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy
Fire together, had the right to light his candle directly from the Holy
Fire together, and had the right to exit the Holy Tomb holding their lit
candles, which they would then spread to their respective communities. Dr.
Berkovich emphasized that the Government of Israel must uphold these
specific rights of the Armenians Orthodox Church.
Dr. Berkovich's expert opinion was presented to the Israeli Government,
who once again appointed the former Minister, N. Sharansky, to deal with
this issue. The Armenian Patriarchate was informed however, that the
Israeli Government would not be willing to decide the matter. Both
churches were once again asked to promise restraint during the ceremony
until a decision was issued by the Government. The ceremony of 2004 was
again held under a heavy police presence.
During these many months, the Greek Patriarchate has not honored its
agreement to present any evidence or documents. Prior to the Easter
celebrations of 2005, the Armenian Patriarchate petitioned the Israeli
Supreme Court of Justice, and requested the Court's instructions to the
Israeli Government regarding the settlement of this sensitive and
most-important issue.
The Armenian Patriarchate felt compelled to petition the Court due to the
reluctance of the Israeli Government to resolve the conflict in a timely
manner, as well as the lack of an opinion emanating from the Greek
Patriarchate. The Armenian Patriarchate is looking to protect its rights
pursuant to the Status Quo arrangement.
In its response to the Supreme Court, the Greek Patriarchate declared that
the expert opinion on behalf of the Greek Church would not be submitted
until 1 September 2005. Once again, contrary to its promises to the
Supreme Court, the Greek Patriarchate did not submit an opinion until
2007.
In January of 2006, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the petition of
the Armenian Church for several reasons including: the impracticality of
formulating a solution to the dispute during the short period remaining
until the 2006 Holy Fire Ceremony, the fact that national elections were
looming ahead, and that the Government that would have been required to
deliberate on the conflict would not be the same Government against which
the Armenian petition was filed. Although a new Government was elected
over 10 months ago, no steps have still been taken to address this
most-sensitive issue.
Following the Holy Saturday ceremony of 2005, the Armenian Patriarchate
once again appealed to the Greek Patriarchate in order for the parties to
discuss the issue between them in a peaceful manner, but to no avail.
It was not until January of 2007 that the Armenian Patriarchate and the
Israeli Government received copies of the study of the Greek
Patriarchate's historian regarding the Holy Fire Ceremony. The Armenian
Patriarchate has studied their evidence and found nothing that overshadows
the undeniable right of the Armenian Church, and/or contradicts or refutes
Dr. S. Berkovich's expert opinion.
For the last five years, the Armenian Patriarchate has been knocking on
the doors of the Israeli Prime Minister, the other Government Ministers,
the Knesset Members and the Attorney General, requesting that a decision
be issued. Five years on, only promises have been given without any
decisions. There is no argument that it is the duty and responsibility of
the Israeli Government to resolve issues and conflicts in the Holy Places
as set forth by established international law principles, as well as the
laws of the State of Israel.
We beseech you, collectively and individually, to petition the Israeli
Government to act with a sense of duty and responsibility, and to uphold
the centuries-old rights of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
We urge all of our Armenian brothers and sisters around the world to email
and fax the attached petition in your name, or the name of your
organization, to the important Ministers of the Israeli Government listed
below. In case you are unable to send the attached petition to the fax
numbers and email addresses listed below, you may send it to your local
Israeli Embassy or Consulate.
Please demand that this issue be resolved before the day of the Holy Fire
Ceremony on 7 April 2007, so that we may together celebrate and give
thanks and glory to the Risen Christ.
Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister
Fax - (+972) 2-6705475
E-mail - [email protected]
Ms. Zippi Livni, Foreign Minister
Fax - (+972) 6285438-2
Mr. Avi Dichter, Interior Security Minister
Fax - (+972) 5428039-2
Prof. Daniel Friedman, Minister of Justice
Fax - (+972) 2-6287757
E-mail - [email protected]
Mr. Menahem Mazuz, Attorney General
Fax - (+972) 6467001-2
Mr. Roni Baron, Minister of the Interior
Fax - (+972) 2-5666376
E-mail - [email protected]
27 Feb 2007 by Press Office
Read More ..=2E
©2004 Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada. All rights reserved=2E
DIVAN OF THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM
P.O. Box 14235
Jerusalem, Israel 91141
Tel: 9722-62282331; FAX: 6264861
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.armenian-patriarchate.org
21 February 2007
Patriarch asks for support on Holy Fire Ceremony
The following release was issued by the Divan of the Armenian Patriarchate
of Jerusalem. You can download PDF letter to send to officials regarding
the issue by clicking here.
The Holy Fire Ceremony
The Holy Fire Ceremony is a religious ceremony that takes place on the
Saturday of Holy Week, within the Tomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Christians believe that, during the ceremony, the Holy Fire descends from
Heaven and lights up the lamp within the Tomb of Christ, thereby
symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ and his victory over death. The
descent of the fire from heaven is one of the greatest miracles of
Christianity, being the divine revelation of Jesus himself. For this
reason, the Holy Saturday ceremony is the holiest one for the Eastern
Churches. These churches include the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox,
Coptic Orthodox and Jacobite-Syrians; all participate in the Holy Saturday
ceremony.
The ceremony is conducted according to precise and clear rules and
arrangements, which have been in existence for hundreds of years. These
rules were anchored in the Ottoman-period Status Quo arrangement for the
Holy Places. The material part of the ceremony, acceptance of the holy
fire, is conducted within the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre; the edicule
is made up of two chambers - the Angels Chapel and the Holy Tomb Chapel.
According to the centuries-old practice, at the highlight of the ceremony,
the Greek Patriarch and the Armenian Patriarch, or his representative,
enter the Holy Tomb together, kneel down in front of the Tomb together,
and witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire together.
The Holy Fire is transferred by the Greek Patriarch and the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, to members of the Eastern Churches
through two windows located in the wall of the Angel's Chapel.
During Easter of 2002, the newly elected Greek Patriarch, Irineos I, whose
first time it was participating in the abovementioned ceremony, incited a
conflict inside the Holy Tomb with the Armenian Patriarch's
representative, by demanding a deviation from the Status Quo arrangements.
Since that time, the issue remains unresolved.
According to the Greek Patriarch's statement regarding the ceremony in
2002, he said that the Armenian Bishop must not leave the Holy Tomb's
Chapel first, and demanded that he leave first, contrary to the binding
order of the ceremony. It is notable to mention that the predecessors of
Irineos I have entered the Holy Tomb's Chapel together with the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, for the Holy Fire Ceremony. The Greek
Metropolitan Archbishops Daniel and Cornelius have themselves been
witnesses to this.
Prior to the Holy Fire Ceremony of 2003, the Greek Patriarch altered his
previous statement and announced his objection in principle that the
Armenian Patriarch, or his representative, had no right to enter the Holy
Tomb's Chapel during the ceremony. In essence, he said the Armenian
Patriarch, or his representative, had no right to enter the Holy Tomb's
Chapel at all, witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy Fire, and
light his torch directly from the Holy Fire lamp.
Prior to the Easter celebrations of 2003, and after the Greek Patriarchate
refused every attempt at negotiation or compromise between the churches
within a forum of religious scholars, the State of Israel summoned both
parties around a table to solve the issue. Under Israeli Law, the
Government has the exclusive authority to attain an effective and fair
resolution of any dispute pertaining to the Holy Places in the Holy Land.
Instead of settling the issue immediately, and enforcing the Status Quo,
the Israeli government pretended to have a lack of knowledge regarding the
situation and requested that both churches present it with their evidence.
The government requested this evidence on what each side considered to be
the binding Status Quo arrangement, so that it could issue a decision
during the year preceding the 2004 ceremony. At the same time, the
churches and the Israeli police reached an interim confidential agreement
for the Holy Fire Ceremony of 2004 to ensure that peace and security
prevailed for the event. We believed that as soon as our evidence through
historic documents were presented, the Government would be able to decide
on the matter.
After the ceremony of 2004, we acted as agreed and conducted a thorough
investigation of not only our archives, but the archives of the Sharia
courts in Israel and abroad (including the Ottoman archives). We collected
the testimony of living witnesses who had conducted the Holy Fire Ceremony
as representatives of the Armenian Patriarch, and compiled various legal
documents and scientific books. We also hired the services of an expert,
Dr. Shmuel Berkovich, and furnished the Government with his expert opinion
to establish our position.
Dr. Berkovich concluded that the Armenian Patriarch, or his
representative, has had an exclusive right for hundreds of years to enter
the Holy Tomb on Holy Saturday together with the Greek Patriarch. He
continued to state that the Armenian Patriarch, or his representative, had
the right to kneel in front of the Holy Tomb together with the Greek
Patriarch, had the right to witness the miracle of the descent of the Holy
Fire together, had the right to light his candle directly from the Holy
Fire together, and had the right to exit the Holy Tomb holding their lit
candles, which they would then spread to their respective communities. Dr.
Berkovich emphasized that the Government of Israel must uphold these
specific rights of the Armenians Orthodox Church.
Dr. Berkovich's expert opinion was presented to the Israeli Government,
who once again appointed the former Minister, N. Sharansky, to deal with
this issue. The Armenian Patriarchate was informed however, that the
Israeli Government would not be willing to decide the matter. Both
churches were once again asked to promise restraint during the ceremony
until a decision was issued by the Government. The ceremony of 2004 was
again held under a heavy police presence.
During these many months, the Greek Patriarchate has not honored its
agreement to present any evidence or documents. Prior to the Easter
celebrations of 2005, the Armenian Patriarchate petitioned the Israeli
Supreme Court of Justice, and requested the Court's instructions to the
Israeli Government regarding the settlement of this sensitive and
most-important issue.
The Armenian Patriarchate felt compelled to petition the Court due to the
reluctance of the Israeli Government to resolve the conflict in a timely
manner, as well as the lack of an opinion emanating from the Greek
Patriarchate. The Armenian Patriarchate is looking to protect its rights
pursuant to the Status Quo arrangement.
In its response to the Supreme Court, the Greek Patriarchate declared that
the expert opinion on behalf of the Greek Church would not be submitted
until 1 September 2005. Once again, contrary to its promises to the
Supreme Court, the Greek Patriarchate did not submit an opinion until
2007.
In January of 2006, the Supreme Court decided to dismiss the petition of
the Armenian Church for several reasons including: the impracticality of
formulating a solution to the dispute during the short period remaining
until the 2006 Holy Fire Ceremony, the fact that national elections were
looming ahead, and that the Government that would have been required to
deliberate on the conflict would not be the same Government against which
the Armenian petition was filed. Although a new Government was elected
over 10 months ago, no steps have still been taken to address this
most-sensitive issue.
Following the Holy Saturday ceremony of 2005, the Armenian Patriarchate
once again appealed to the Greek Patriarchate in order for the parties to
discuss the issue between them in a peaceful manner, but to no avail.
It was not until January of 2007 that the Armenian Patriarchate and the
Israeli Government received copies of the study of the Greek
Patriarchate's historian regarding the Holy Fire Ceremony. The Armenian
Patriarchate has studied their evidence and found nothing that overshadows
the undeniable right of the Armenian Church, and/or contradicts or refutes
Dr. S. Berkovich's expert opinion.
For the last five years, the Armenian Patriarchate has been knocking on
the doors of the Israeli Prime Minister, the other Government Ministers,
the Knesset Members and the Attorney General, requesting that a decision
be issued. Five years on, only promises have been given without any
decisions. There is no argument that it is the duty and responsibility of
the Israeli Government to resolve issues and conflicts in the Holy Places
as set forth by established international law principles, as well as the
laws of the State of Israel.
We beseech you, collectively and individually, to petition the Israeli
Government to act with a sense of duty and responsibility, and to uphold
the centuries-old rights of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
We urge all of our Armenian brothers and sisters around the world to email
and fax the attached petition in your name, or the name of your
organization, to the important Ministers of the Israeli Government listed
below. In case you are unable to send the attached petition to the fax
numbers and email addresses listed below, you may send it to your local
Israeli Embassy or Consulate.
Please demand that this issue be resolved before the day of the Holy Fire
Ceremony on 7 April 2007, so that we may together celebrate and give
thanks and glory to the Risen Christ.
Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister
Fax - (+972) 2-6705475
E-mail - [email protected]
Ms. Zippi Livni, Foreign Minister
Fax - (+972) 6285438-2
Mr. Avi Dichter, Interior Security Minister
Fax - (+972) 5428039-2
Prof. Daniel Friedman, Minister of Justice
Fax - (+972) 2-6287757
E-mail - [email protected]
Mr. Menahem Mazuz, Attorney General
Fax - (+972) 6467001-2
Mr. Roni Baron, Minister of the Interior
Fax - (+972) 2-5666376
E-mail - [email protected]
27 Feb 2007 by Press Office
Read More ..=2E
©2004 Diocese of the Armenian Church of Canada. All rights reserved=2E