There’s this church in Jerusalem called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Many would call it the holiest place for Christians in the entire world. Tradition holds that it contains the place where Jesus was crucified and the place where he was buried.1 It’s easy to understand why this church is considered particularly sacred ground.
Back in 312 CE, the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. He sent his mother to search out Jerusalem to find Jesus’s tomb. In 326, she said she found the location, but it had a temple to Jupiter (or Venus) on top of it. Constantine ordered that the temple be torn down, the cave dug out, and a shrine be built. Over the years, the church built on that location faced a lot of violent change: fires and earthquakes with repeated efforts to rebuild. When Jerusalem was invaded and conquered, the church was often damaged or destroyed. From about 637-1099, Jerusalem was under Islamic rule. Generally, Christians were still able to worship at the site (although one caliph ordered the church to be completely destroyed). Then, the crusaders captured Jerusalem.2
Jumping ahead, Jerusalem was controlled by the Ottoman empire from 1348-1575. At this point, both Catholics and Orthodox Christians were vying for control and influence of the church. Each group tried to curry favor – even using bribery. Disagreements about who had the rights to which part of the church led to violence between the Christian groups. In 1757, a sultan decreed that ownership and control of the church should forever remain as it was then. This decree was reinforced (with teeth) in 1853. At that point, there were six different groups who had claims – the Catholics, Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syriac.3
The problem with this arrangement was that there was no formalized document or framework that dictated who had control of what and what was permitted where. Each of the groups had their own traditions and their own stories that affirmed their claim. The tension was so great that back in the 12th century, it was decreed that two different Muslim families would control entrance to the church – one the gates and the other doors. It was the only way to guarantee access to all denominations. To this day, the same families are keepers of the keys.4
Fervent devotion at the site has not lessened over the years. In 1902, some Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christians disagreed over who had the right to sweep the lowest step of a chapel within the larger church. This seemingly slight disagreement put 18 friars in the hospital and a few monks in jail. On the early hours of Easter in 1970, Ethiopian monks changed the locks to doors of a crucial passageway to keep the Copts out. The police and courts got involved. As for Ethiopians, the biggest portion that they consider their domain is the roof of the church. Still, a single Coptic monk sits in a chair on the roof every day in protest. This is part of the status quo. One hot day in 2002, the Coptic monk moved his chair a few inches so he could sit in the shade. The Ethiopians took this to be a violent act, moving in on their territory. Eleven ended up in the hospital.5
In addition to violence, this status quo of spheres of control has led to other problems. Under the laws of the Ottoman Empire, anyone who repaired or maintained something was said to have a claim of ownership over it. The church has been built, rebuilt, and patched up countless times since the 4th century. Yet, now, when there’s a crack in the floor, a pillar that needs repairing, even a lightbulb that needs to be changed – whoever leaps forward to do so may be seen as fundamentally attacking the others. Despite occasional clashes, the denominations mostly co-exist. In recent years, there have even been agreements that have allowed for major repairs. On Sundays, you can hear five different liturgies being sung at once – often with each group singing as loudly as they can.6
The wisdom here, I suppose, is that everyone wants to have their place, their access, their say. No one wants violence so, for the most part, they cautiously go along with the rhythms and customs they have inherited. At the center of all of this passion and disagreement is the cross and the tomb, right? Is this the wisdom that enables us to keep the holy holy?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_Quo_(Jerusalem_and_Bethlehem) & https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/holy-sepulcher/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre & https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/holy-sepulcher/
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre & https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/holy-sepulcher/ & https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/in-the-holy-land-six-christian-faiths-jockey-for-power-at-the-church-of-the-holy-sepulchre/
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:United_Nations_Conciliation_Commission_for_Palestine_Working_Paper_on_the_Holy_Places.djvu&page=14 & https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20161121-a-1000-year-old-promise-of-peace & https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat55/sub352/entry-5771.html & https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/sepulchre