http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/10/Monks_brawl_at_Jesus_tomb
Wild scenes as monks brawl at Jesus' tomb
(in case you want to read the details -- or you could just entertain a Monty Python fantasy)
10/11/2008 6:09:00 PM. | AP
Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches today and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb.
The clash broke out between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
It began as Armenian clergymen marched in an annual procession commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus. It ended with the arrival of dozens of riot policemen who separated the sides, seizing a bearded Armenian monk in a red-and-pink robe and a black-clad Greek Orthodox monk with a bloody gash on his forehead. Both men were taken away in handcuffs.
Six Christian sects divide control of the ancient church. They regularly fight over turf and influence, and Israeli police are occasionally forced to intervene.
The feud revolves around a demand by the Greek Orthodox to post a monk inside the Edicule - the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus - during the Armenian procession. The Armenians refused, and when they tried to march the Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way.
"We were keeping resistance so that the procession could not pass through ... and establish a right that they don't have," said a young Greek Orthodox monk with a cut next to his left eye. The monk, who gave his name as Serafim, said he sustained the wound when an Armenian punched him from behind and broke his glasses.
Father Pakrat of the Armenian Patriarchate said the Greek demand was "against the status quo arrangement and against the internal arrangement of the Holy Sepulcher." He said the Greeks attacked first.
Archbishop Aristarchos, the chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, said his monks had not initiated the violence. "I'm sorry that these events happened in front of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the most holy religious monument of Christianity," he said.
After the brawl, the church was crowded with Israeli police holding assault rifles and equipped with riot gear, standing beside Golgotha, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, and the long smooth stone marking the place where tradition holds his body was laid out.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police were forced to intervene after fighting was reported. They arrested two monks, one from each side, he said.
Wild scenes as monks brawl at Jesus' tomb
by Kudra 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Kudra
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BluesBrother
Well, what do expect from Babylon the Great?
{With tongue firmly in my cheek)
Mind you it is still a shocking lack of composure and Christian values
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keyser soze
What, no video footage?
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hillbilly
kids will be kids.........
Hill
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iceguy
All the Monks were Kung Fu fighting...their bibles were fast as lightening...
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lawrence
Maybe all of them should go down to Megiddo and have a series of gang fights,..