This is both the funniest and most depressing Christmas-related news item I’ve read all week:
Clergy from two Christian sects came to blows in the Church of the Nativity on Wednesday morning, prompting police to storm the Bethlehem holy site.
Several dozen Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests were cleaning the interior of the church Wednesday morning when, according to witnesses, two of them began fighting.
The fight quickly escalated, and soon, 50 to 60 priests were exchanging blows with broomsticks.
Bethlehem police were sent in to quell the fighting, Palestinian police Maj. Ahed Hasayen said.
UPDATE: I didn’t realize that this is something of a holiday tradition at the church. Here is a video of the incident:
December 28th, 2011 | 7:59 pm
The Holy Sites tend to be tinderboxes of ecclesial strife. There are very hard and fast rules as to who can do what and when and how. Any deviation can result in turf war. It’s very sad.
December 28th, 2011 | 9:23 pm
Definately ” the funniest and most depressing Christmas-related news item.”
Having failed at stimulating interest in the story of the Christmas truce when Christians quit shooting each other, maybe we can all take comfort that the weapons were only brooms.
December 29th, 2011 | 5:19 am
Joe, you do realize that the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been held by a Muslim family for the better part of the last millenium because it can’t be trusted to Christians in light of all the sectarianism, yes?
December 29th, 2011 | 6:41 am
We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem several years ago. Two groups of priests — I think the same as in this story, Armenians and Greeks — were processing near the boundaries of their “territory” and when they came near each other swung their censers at each other in a hostile way, almost striking each other. But they didn’t come to blows.
December 29th, 2011 | 11:52 am
So maybe the new translation of the Gloria in the Catholic mass has something to it:
“and on earth peace to people of good will”
Though I can’t beat Colbert’s proclamation that “consubstantial” is now “Istanbul”.
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