Entrance to Holy Sepulcher Not Made
05:59 PM ET 08/25/99
By LAURIE COPANS, AP
JERUSALEM (AP) - A second exit to the crowded Church of the Holy Sepulcher may
not be ready in time for the millions of pilgrims expected to visit in the year 2000,
Israeli officials said Wednesday.
The Christian sects that control the church, believed to be the site of Jesus'
crucifixion, burial and resurrection, have been unable to agree on a location for the
entrance. The government insists on building another gateway for safety reasons.
Tourism Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak toured Christian holy sites Wednesday to
assess preparations for the tourists who have already begun to flood the narrow alleyways
of Jerusalem's Old City.
Israel expects four million tourists between now and the end of 2000, twice the
usual figure, an estimate based in part on Pope John Paul II's recent endorsement of Holy
Land pilgrimages to celebrate the third the millennium of Christianity.
Israeli officials warn that, without another entrance, the church could be the
scene of a tragedy similar to a fire in 1840 in which several dozen people were trampled
to death. Lipkin-Shahak could not say when an understanding on the new door would be
reached between the quarreling sects. Israel will not in any way force the Christian
groups to create a new door, said Jerusalem police chief Yair Yitzhaki. On
Wednesday, hundreds of pilgrims swarmed the church and some had to wait in line to get
inside.
Timotheos Metropolitan, the secretary-general of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in
Jerusalem, said he wasn't concerned about any harm befalling pilgrims since ``thousands
and thousands'' have visited over hundreds of years.
LISTEN TO MORE ON ABOUT THE SEPULCHER ON NPR
Saturday, July 12,1997 Weekend All Things Considered
View
Entire Program
SEPULCHER NPR's Alex Chadwick reports on the relationship
between the various Christian clerics who share the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem. He says the close quarters often make for un-neighborly behavior in this
most-holy place.
