Tourists place candles outside the locked doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. Protesting several actions described as a systematic campaign “against the churches and the Christian community in the Holy Land”, the heads of Christian churches announced they were closing the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Bewildered pilgrims milled around the square in front of the church as Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, who was flanked by Franciscan Fr Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land and Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manougia, read a short statement to the press.
At the same time, the only two people allowed to close the doors – the Muslim custodian of the key, Adeeb Jawad Joudeh Al Husseini, and Muslim door keeper Wajeeh Nuseibeh – closed and locked the doors.
“This systematic and unprecedented attack against Christians in the Holy Land severely violates the most basic…and sovereign rights, trampling on the delicate fabric of relations between the Christian community and the authorities for decades,” the heads of churches said.
The church leaders were protesting the Jerusalem municipality’s intention to impose property taxes on church property, such as hotels and convention centres, not used for worship purposes. The proposal to levy taxes on some properties would run contrary to the unofficial historical tax-exempt status the churches have enjoyed for centuries.
Ability
In addition, the church leaders said they oppose a bill in the Israeli parliament that would limit the ability to sell church-owned land to private owners.
The bill, the vote of which was postponed following the church protest, would be specifically detrimental to the Greek Orthodox Church, which owns large tracts of land in central Jerusalem upon which many private homes are built; many of these 99-year-old building rental contracts will soon expire. The church already has sold some of the land to private owners, and homeowners whose apartments are on the land worry about losing their homes.
Politicians say it is not meant to affect what the church can do with its property, but what happens when the land rights are sold to a third party.
It is only the second time the doors to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher have been closed in the middle of the day, other than for traditional religious ceremonies. The other time was 20 years ago, when a visitor to the church began taking down crosses and candles, said Nuseibeh.
The church leaders said taxing commercial properties decreases revenue for the church’s good works.
“The greatest victims in this are those impoverished families who will go without food and housing, as well as the children who will be unable to attend school,” they said.
In early February, the Jerusalem municipality announced it would begin collecting $186.4 million (€151.4 million) in property taxes from some 887 church-owned properties that were not houses of prayer.