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Millennium Warning over Fire Danger in Jerusalem Church


From PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>
Date 13 Dec 1999 20:06:56

13-December-1999 
99418 
 
    Millennium Warning over Fire Danger in Jerusalem Church 
 
    Church of the Holy Sepulcher has no emergency exits 
 
    by Ross Dunn 
    Ecumenical News International 
 
JERUSALEM - Just days before the start of millennium celebrations, 
Christian leaders in Jerusalem have not yet found a solution to an acute 
security problem for visiting pilgrims at one of the holiest sites in 
Jerusalem. 
 
    According to the Israeli government, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 
- which marks the place where Christ is said to have been buried and risen 
from the dead - is a fire trap, where hundreds could die in the event of a 
blaze. 
 
    The church has only one gate, used for both entrance and exit, making 
it a high risk for visitors should a fire break out. 
 
    No agreement has yet been reached to open a new emergency exit in time 
for next year when huge crowds are expected to flood the shrine to 
celebrate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ. 
 
    The shrine has been ablaze more than once.  In 1808, a fire swept 
through the Holy Sepulchre, collapsing the dome of the church and also 
damaging the tomb of Christ itself. 
 
    And in 1834 more than three hundred people reportedly died when panic 
spread through the crowd attending the mass lighting of candles during the 
Easter Holy Fire Ceremony of the Greek Orthodox community.  Many perished 
from suffocation and others were trampled to death as people rushed to the 
only door, which had been closed to prevent the crowds outside from 
entering the already packed area. 
 
    There are many who fear this could happen again next year during the 
same ceremony. 
 
    One of them is Uri Mor, director of the department for Christian 
communities, in the Israeli Ministry for Religious Affairs.  "It's very 
dangerous," he told ENI .  "It goes without saying.  I am saying it 
publicly and writing another report every month about it.  It's obvious if 
you put 20,000 people or 70,000 people with candles or burning torches in 
one place which only has one exit, it's a catastrophe." 
 
    Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, a Roman Catholic priest and an expert on 
Christian holy sites, also told ENI  there was a real danger of another 
fire. 
 
    "I think there is a real need for a second door because you have very 
crowded, very dangerous ceremonies such as the Orthodox Holy Fire, where 
the church is absolutely packed and people are waving flaming candles," he 
said. 
 
    "And if something should happen there, not everybody can get out the 
same entrance, the single entrance we have at the moment." 
 
    But an Israeli ministerial committee has decided it will not act 
unilaterally to open another exit fearing this would provoke protests from 
the six Christian traditions - Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, 
Syrians, Copts, and Ethiopians - which share the use of the church. 
 
    None of these groups is thought willing to sacrifice a part of the area 
they control to make way for a new exit. 
 
    Each of these groups, according to Murphy-O'Connor, carefully guards 
its rights to different sections of the church. 
 
    "The church groups would, I am sure, all agree in principle, that there 
should be a door," he said.  "But the choice is who is going to lose some 
property." 
 
    The whole affair is now also threatening to become a political issue 
because of the fact that the shrine is located in eastern Jerusalem, which 
was occupied by Israel during the 1967 war.  The international community 
regards as illegal Israel's subsequent annexing of this part of the city. 
 
    Wadie Abu Nassar, a spokesman for the Latin Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, 
the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, said church leaders were 
united in rejecting Israel's attempt to mediate in the dispute. 
 
    "The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is in the eastern part of Jerusalem," 
he told ENI. "The churches do not recognize Israeli sovereignty there." 
 
    He added that giving Israel a role in the dispute might set a 
"precedent for government intervention in the internal affairs of the 
church." 
 
    But Murphy-O'Connor said there were precedents for such actions in the 
interests of public safety. 
 
    One example occurred during the time of the British Mandate rule.  In 
1947, the British unilaterally put in a metal framework to prevent the 
structure above the tomb of Christ from 
collapsing. 
 
    But for the moment at least, the Israeli government is not willing to 
interfere while it is still embroiled in another dispute over holy sites, 
following its decision to allow a mosque to be built in Nazareth next to 
the Basilica of the Annunciation, the traditional site where the Angel 
Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to Jesus. 
 
    Approval for the mosque caused an uproar among church groups. 
 
    But Uri Mor insists that the church leaders should not use the issue of 
the mosque in Nazareth to ignore the need to improve security at the Church 
of the Holy Sepulcher. 
 
    "The churches know that we are approaching the year 2000 when millions 
of pilgrims will come, so they will have to decide before the arriving of 
the millennium," he said. 

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