Daily procession of the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Oct. 9, 2023. Credit: Marinella Bandini
Religious people – have murdered God! God is Dead!
John The Prophet
Jerusalem’s usually bustling Old City becomes a ghost town: Reporter’s Notebook
ABC News’ Guy Davies and Ines de la Cuetara report from Jerusalem.
ByGuy Davies and Ines de la Cuetara
October 16, 2023, 6:51 AM
Amid Israel-Hamas war, Jerusalem’s Old City becomes a ghost town
The usually bustling city streets have been quiet as war wages in the south of Israel.
JERUSALEM — It’s a far cry from the usual hustle and bustle, so typical of Jerusalem’s Old City.
The steps of the Damascus Gate have been cleared out. Gone are the fruit and sumac vendors. And inside the Old City: rows and rows of shops have shut down.
“This is the worst days we’ve ever seen in our lives. Even when the corona[virus] was here it was better than this,” said Adnan Jaffa, who runs the Jaffar Sweets shop. “Because of the war … the situation. In five minutes we’re going to close because there is nothing to do.”
For those who know the Old City, it’s an eerie place to be. Even the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — where Christ is believed to have been buried and resurrected — was empty on Sunday but for a handful of worshippers. It felt like we were being given a private tour of one of the world’s holiest and most visited sites.
Christians in the Holy Land say they’re under attack as Israeli-Palestinian violence soars
Church officials and Christian leaders in Israel blame a minority of Jewish extremists for the attacks. They say Israel’s far-right government has fostered a culture of impunity.
April 20, 2023, 3:00 AM PDT
By Josh Lederman and Shira Pinson
JERUSALEM — Upstairs in his monastery tucked in the Old City, Brother Matteo Munari heard a commotion at the Church of the Flagellation, along the path where Jesus is said to have carried his cross on the way to his crucifixion.
Munari, 49, went downstairs and found that a 10-foot statue of Jesus had been wrested off its pedestal and thrown to the ground, its face partially destroyed. When the church’s doorman tackled the man suspected of toppling the statue on Feb. 2, Jewish ritual tassels that had been concealed under his clothes emerged, the Franciscan friar said.
“He was kind of crying. Like, ‘We have to destroy all the statues and the idols in Jerusalem,’” Munari told NBC News last week as he gazed at the smashed face of Jesus, now awaiting repair at the church, which was built in 1929 on a site that dates to the 12th century.
“I just felt sad for him,” he added. “I think he wanted to do the right thing. So the problem probably was not the man himself, but who instructed him to think in this violent way.”
Israeli police confirmed that a U.S. citizen in his 40s was arrested at the scene, adding that investigators were “working diligently to maintain security, order and freedom of worship for members of all religions and denominations.”
But church officials and Christian leaders in Israel say this was far from an isolated incident. As tensions over Jewish and Muslim holy sites have erupted in recent weeks, spiraling into violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Christians in the Holy Land say they’re under attack, too.
Although they blame a minority of Jewish extremists for the attacks, they say Israel’s far-right government has fostered a culture of impunity for attacks on non-Jews, emboldening the nation’s most extreme elements.
In January, ultra-Orthodox Jewish lawmakers allied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed imposing jail time for Christian proselytizing, although after a global outcry, Netanyahu said he would block the bill.
Dimitri Diliani, head of the Palestinian National Christian Coalition, said he felt “more threatened” now by “Israeli policies than any other time.”
In the Holy Land, Franciscans Are Keeping Doors to Holy Sites Open — For Now
The Franciscans are taking it day by day, continuing their service in the sanctuaries and welcoming the few remaining groups.
Marinella Bandini/CNAWorldOctober 11, 2023
On Saturday, Oct. 7, Israel suddenly found itself in a state of war. A barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip and attacks by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated cities near the border resulted in the death of over 1,000 people. Among them were 11 American citizens as well as citizens from many other countries.
Since then in the southern part of the country, the alarm sirens warning of incoming missiles are relentless. Jerusalem, on the other hand, has fallen into an eerie silence, interrupted only by alerts on mobile phones and the roar of military aircraft. The city is semi-deserted, with most shops closed, except for those selling essential goods. Schools are closed, as are many offices. There is a desire to return to some semblance of normalcy, mixed with the fear of leaving home due to the threat of reprisals.
The only open doors seem to be those of the Franciscan sanctuaries, which, at the express request of the Custody of the Holy Land, remain open for now, primarily to allow ongoing pilgrimages to carry out their spiritual experience as best they can. These sites include the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem; the Basilica of the Agony (also called the Church of All Nations), located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem; the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem; and the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
The Franciscans are taking it day by day, continuing their service in the sanctuaries and welcoming the few remaining groups.
However, thoughts of the immediate future bring back the struggle of the pandemic years, with a decline in tourism and, consequently, in donations and offerings. The Custody itself, in a statement, has expressly asked people to “suspend pilgrimages and wait until the situation is safe again.”
The leaders of the Christian community in the Holy Land continue to appeal incessantly for peace and the cessation of hostilities.
Following the outbreak of the conflict, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, signed a statement in which, in addition to calling for a de-escalation of the conflict, emphasized the importance of preserving the Status Quo regarding the holy sites. This is a set of rules that regulates access to and use of the main holy sites since the time of the Ottoman Empire.
The same concern was reiterated in a joint statement by the patriarchs and heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem. Christian religious leaders have raised their voices together “to advocate for the cessation of all violent and military activities” and “condemn any acts that target civilians.”
The Custody of the Holy Land issued a statement on Oct. 10 inviting all the faithful to “pray and fast for peace.” The Franciscan communities, the statement reads, “pray for all the victims, especially the civilians and the hostages. And for their families. Let us pray so that the hatred, anger, and fear that generate violence go out in hearts. Let us pray so that the international community fosters initiatives of mediation and peace, especially in protecting civilians.”
At the moment, there is no news of specific prayer initiatives, given the state of emergency that discourages gatherings. The patriarch himself has suspended official entry ceremonies into dioceses. However, at ordinary liturgies, there is a greater intensification of prayers for peace.
On Monday, Oct. 9, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the daily procession of the Franciscans to the places of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus concluded with a specific prayer for peace in the Holy Land.
“For more than seven centuries, the Franciscans, in times of war or peace, of excavation or work, have visited every day the places of the passion of Jesus,” the president of the Holy Sepulcher, Brother Stéphane, explained to media after the prayer. “Here, Christ has risen! Here, he has defeated the world! Today, we wanted our prayer to be particularly focused on asking for peace for this land, which is now being torn apart once again, so that everyone can live in this land in peace and in safety.”
Rosamond Press 
Leave a comment