Posted on 03/25/2020 6:12:29 PM PDT by marshmallow
Parishioners and pilgrims to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are being called upon to take special precautions when visiting the site, including not touching or venerating any of the sacred sites or objects within it.
This appeal was made by the leaders of the Christian communities represented in the various chapels of the Holy Sepulchre: His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem of the Orthodox Church; Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land (Franciscans); and Arch. Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The appeal was published on the site of the Custos of the Holy Land on March 21.
“This dangerous situation” surrounding the coronavirus “has not passed over the Holy Land and the Holy City of Jerusalem,” the statement reads. “We are called to live this time in faith and confidence in the Lord’s mercy and His care for all His creatures.”
At the same time, we are all called to follow the guidelines from the competent health authorities as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at orthochristian.com ...
Especially, no kissing allowed. Been doing it for centuries.
...but Catholics do not do that, so I have been told.
Really? Just had to take a jab?
Must have been dozens of non-catholics that were kissing the stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that I personally witnessed. I guess I just assumed they were catholic.
Maybe people are awestruck and want to do something to monitor the spot.
Monitor=honor. (How did it change to that?)
What were you doing there? What's so interesting about a hole in the floor that's been there for centuries? And in a Catholic Church, too?
Western Catholics do a little kissing. On Good Friday, for instance, everyone in the congregation comes up in procession and kisses the Cross; and at the beginning of every Mass the priest bows and kisses the altar. OTOH, Eastern Catholics, all kissing, all icons, all the time!
I starting going to Israel in 1980 and have been many times (at least 15), including living there for a six month period. I was associated with an archaeological dig and attended four digging seasons. In our spare time, we traveled to tourist spots like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre(and most of the historic Catholic Churches and pilgrim sites) because the volunteers wanted to see as much as they could in their time off. I became very familiar with all of these sites. I do disagree with another freeper’s assertion that it is an Eastern Catholic custom more than a Western Custom. That might be true outside of Israel, but in Israel, Western and Orthodox were pretty much the same. It is very common for pilgrim’s to prostrate themselves and kiss the objects on display - from Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, to Galilee, etc.
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