The Immovable Ladder at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

[brooklynite]

Slate:

Venerated as the site of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is perhaps the world’s most sacred Christian pilgrimage site. It is also the location of a 150-year-old argument over a ladder.

Under an 1852 mandate, the care of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared by no less than six Christian denominations: the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syriac Orthodox churches. The Holy Sepulchre’s edifice is carefully divided into sections, with some commonly shared, while others belong strictly to a particular sect. A set of complicated rules governs the transit rights of the other groups through each section on any given day, and some of the sections of the church remain hotly disputed. Arguments and fistfights over territory and boundaries are not uncommon.

One such area is a small section of the roof which is disputed between the Copts and Ethiopians. At least one Coptic monk at any given time sits there on a chair placed on a particular spot to express this claim. On a stifling summer day in 2002, a monk moved his chair eight inches to find shade. This was interpreted as a hostile act and violation of boundaries, and 11 were hospitalized after the fight that ensued.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre’s “immovable ladder” is a centuries-old symbol of this extreme territoriality. During the early 1800s, a man belonging to an unknown sect placed the ladder on a ledge against an exterior second-floor wall of the church. Due to the imposition of the status quo and the fear of inciting violence, no one has dared touch it since.

Considering how transcendentally important religion is supposed to be, I'm constantly amazed at how petty some of the theological disagreements become.

[hrmjustin]

1. Yea I never understood how a Christian could want to hit another Christian over

space in a church. Not very Christ like at all.

[rug]

2. This crap has been going on for a long time.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

3. The squabble has been going on for a millenium

In 1192, Saladin assigned responsibility for the Church as a whole to the Muslim Nuseibeh family as they would be neutral.

[El Supremo]

4. Protestants don't have much to do with this church.

From all the squabbles to the veneration of icons, they have been turned off. Even so much as to say that the Garden Tomb is the real site. This was the idea of crazy General Chinese Gordon in 1883. Although intriguing, it has none of the tradition that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has. I have been recently fascinated by this building and would love to visit it.

In 1009 Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed virtually all of the original church. This act was the biggest instigation for the Crusades. What we have left for archaeologists to prove anything is anyone's guess.

[dimbear]

5. Venerate. Good word to use. Goes back to the Roman goddess Venus, who has exactly

as much to do with this site as the historical Jesus.