Our Jesus, your Jesus…. the hostility on Calvary Hills: A Holy Land travel story

 POSTCARD FROM JERUSALEM

  "Move fast. Don't stop," shouted the burly Greek Orthodox priest who was controlling the crowd lined up outside the main altar at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the walled old city of Jerusalem. It's the holiest of the holy places on earth for Christians -- yes, it's Golgotha, on the hills of Calvary where Jesus Christ was crucified. This is also place where Jesus was buried (the Sepulchre, or tomb).

  The priest allowed us – 26 pilgrims from Mumbai -- only a few seconds. We just had a glimpse of the Rock of Calvary, or the 12th Station of the Cross, which can be seen under glass on both sides of the altar. And directly underneath the altar is a hole where the Roman soldiers raised the cross, where the salvific presence of God is revealed. It's an emotional place and moment for every Christian, but the Orthodox priests manning the area would have none of it. They shooed away our friends, Dubai-based couple Sony and Annu, who were furiously clicking pictures of the most venerated place.

The division in Christianity is amply on display here. The site is shared by several Christian churches.  While Greek Orthodox controls the main altar, the Roman Catholic Church, led by Franciscan priests, controls an altar on the other side which is the Chapel on the Nailing of the Cross or the 11th Station of the Cross. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a chapel on the east side which houses a statue of Mary. It's also the 13th Station of the Cross and also the place where Jesus' body was removed from the cross. "There are occasional skirmishes among church groups inside the site. Nobody wants to lose control of their areas," said our guide, a Christian from Galilea. 

  While Franciscans were credited with rebuilding the site, control of the church swung back and forth among various church groups. Tired of the squabbling, Sublime Porte -- which is the Ottoman Court in Constantinople -- divided the church among different churches. Now the church, which was destroyed and rebuilt several times in 2000 years, is surrounded by markets, souvenir shops and minarets.

  “They (pilgrims) would like peace and quiet around them, but they feel the confusion amongst the five groups that occupy it – the Franciscans, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians, the Syrians and the Coptic Orthodox – who jealously guard their right of being there,” writes Fr Artemio Vítores, OFM, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land. It is actually the only place in the world where love for God is manifested in the clearest and deepest way, but so is the human weakness of wanting to monopolise that same God, he said candidly.

 The main custodians of the site are the Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic Churches, with the Greek Orthodox Church having the lion's share. The Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox acquired small portions of the site in the 19th century. Strangely, the keys to the main entrance of the church are being held by a Sunni Muslim family -- which had links with Prophet Muhammad -- for several centuries. "It's unbelievable," my wife said.

  When we visited the compound, some areas of the site were in a dilapidated condition. "You can't touch the common areas in the site for renovation without the consent of all the churches. That’s why some areas are in acute state of repair," said our guide.  

 “Pilgrims wonder where the hill, the garden and the tomb are, wishing that the principal sanctuary of Christianity stood in majestic isolation from the rest and that natural light illuminated it all, far from the crowd and darkness,” Fr Vitores’s message on the Franciscans website says. You can’t miss the hostile glances of priests on the site. They are looking at each other suspiciously. Different church groups had clashed inside the sanctum sanctorum for even silly reasons, our guide said.

  The journey of Jesus to Calvary, with the cross on His shoulders, was painful. If you take the same route now, in these modern times, you will be shocked. The path to Calvary is through a market area where people sell all paraphernalia. Several Stations of the Cross fall in the market area which is always crowded with hawkers and there was barely any space for our group of 26 pilgrims from Mumbai. “It’s unbelievable… the path that Roman soldiers and Jewish priests took to bring Jesus to Calvary is in such a bad condition,” my wife said again.

  Is the Israeli government listening?

  Franciscans say that it’s “important that the pilgrim, who feel bewildered, allow themselves to be embraced by the mystery and understand that like him, thousands of other pilgrims considered it worth risking their lives to adore our Saviour”.

 As Fr Vitores wrote, only kneeling on the Empty Tomb and forgetting everything that surrounds Him, will the pilgrim be able to hear the words of the angel “He is not here! He is risen! Come see the place where the Lord lay.”

   PS: Catholic parishes around the world this week will be taking up the traditional annual Good Friday collection for the church in the Holy Land. The proceeds from the Good Friday collection go to the Franciscan custody of the Holy Land. Franciscans manage St Catherine church in Bethlehem, Gethsemane garden of olives, the shrine of flagellation, VII Station, the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth, Church of first miracle in Cana, the shrine of Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and archaeological work at Capernahum and Magdala.