Feuding Christian groups unite to fix shrine at Jesus' tomb

Three Christian groups known for disagreeing with each other have joined together to save the place believed to be where Jesus resurrected.

The Aedicule, the 206-year-old structure located at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, is at risk of collapsing. To keep this from happening, leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church agreed on March 22 to split the cost of $3.4 million to fix the shrine. A Greek bank contributed $57,000 to have its name displayed on the machinery.

"One of the serious issues in the church is that the status quo takes place over every other consideration, and it's not a good thing," Franciscan friar Rev. Athanasius Macora told The New York Times. "Unity is more important than a turf war."

In February last year, Israeli police closed the place and prevented pilgrims from entering because of reports that it was unstable and at risk of collapsing. The churches even protested against the sudden closure of the shrine. The church leaders said in their letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the police's "stated reason for this closure was their unsupported allegation that 'the structure of the Aedicule was not safe enough for pilgrims to enter'."

"Regarding, the actual state of the stability of the Aedicule, we, far better than anyone else, know that the structure needs to be properly restored. Yet we have not been presented with any evidence that somehow some danger appeared, out of nowhere, that had not been there the day before that drastic police action," the letter said.

The churches were apparently convinced later, since they are now working together to restore it.

"Somebody had to push us," Rev. Samuel Aghoyan, the representative of the Armenian Patriarchate, said. "If the Israeli government didn't get involved, nobody would have done anything."

It will be a slow process, but conservation expert Antonia Moropoulou said that the Aedicule will remain open to the public during the renovation.