Abbot's cross becomes a 'case' at Jerusalem’s Western Wall
An official asked Fr Nikodemus Schnabel, a Benedictine monk from the nearby Dormition Monastery, to remove his pectoral cross during a visit with Germany’s Education minister. Solidarity with the abbot was expressed by the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See. The incident follows an escalation of hate and contempt by ultra-Orthodox denounced by the city’s Christian communities. Meanwhile, an Israeli journalist from Channel 13, dressed like a friar, documents insults and spitting from soldiers and children.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews/Agencies) – An official with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, an Israeli government entity responsible for the administration of Jerusalem’s Wailing or Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, asked Fr Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the nearby Abbey of the Dormition of Mary to remove his pectoral cross during an official visit to the site.
The incident – which took place as the Benedictine religious was approaching, still outside the prayer area reserved for Jews, together with German Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger – was captured in a video posted by Christoph Schult, a journalist with the German weekly Der Spiegel, on his Twitter account.
In the video, Abbot Schnabel is seen speaking with the official: "This is very harsh,” he says in response to her request to hide the cross. “You are not respecting my religion. [. . .] You are hindering me from my human rights. This is not a provocation. I am an abbot. This is my dress. This is how I am dressed. The cross is part of my dress code.”
For the German journalist, this incident is part of a pattern of intolerance repeatedly denounced by Christian leaders in Jerusalem in recent weeks. Abbot Schnabel twitted (In German), "It is painful to see how the climate in this wonderful city is changing more and more for the worse under the new government. Jerusalem is big enough for everyone!"
In the wake of the incident, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation issued a statement apologising for the "distress" caused, noting, however, that, “The employee approached him (Abbott Schnabel) and politely asked if it was possible to cover the cross to avoid unpleasantness as happened recently in the Old City, out of a desire to respect the place. When he refused, his entry was of course not prevented and the employee respected it and continued on her way.”
Solidarity with the abbot was expressed by the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See, Raphael Schutz: "We must prevent these unspeakable acts - he wrote in a tweet - and we must ensure that they are not repeated. Freedom of religion and worship are guaranteed in Israel and so it must continue".
This incident and persistent mutual misunderstandings clearly show the situation in Jerusalem. Only a few days ago, a journalist for the Israeli Channel 13, Yossi Eli, dressed up like a Franciscan friar, sought to personally see the anti-Christian hate, long denounced by Christian leaders.
Eli walked around the Old City of Jerusalem for a day, accompanied by an actual Franciscan, Brother Alberto Pari, with the permission of the superiors of the Custody of the Holy Land.
The journalist walked the streets that Christian clerics from various confessions take every day to go to the Sepulchre or reach their respective convents.
As the video he shot with a hidden camera and aired on his network shows, it took but a few minutes after leaving St Saviour Convent, for the journalist to be the targeted of insults and spitting, in a crescendo that saw soldiers and even a child join in.
Over the years, Christian clerics have been occasionally attacked and harassed in Jerusalem’s Old City, but this has increased in recent months.
In November, two soldiers from the Israel Defence Forces' Givati Brigade were arrested on suspicion of spitting at the Armenian archbishop and other pilgrims during a procession in the Old City.
In early January, two Jewish teenagers were arrested for damaging graves in the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion. The following week, the Maronite community centre in the northern town of Ma'alot-Tarshiha was vandalised by unknown assailants during the Christmas holidays.
Vandals have also repeatedly targeted buildings belonging to the Armenian community in Jerusalem’s Armenian with insulting graffiti.
Some observers link the rise in this aggressive behaviour to Israel’s current government, which includes far-right parties, who, in the name of protecting Jerusalem's Jewish character, are fiercely opposed to any public expression of Christian worship.
Earlier this month Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke out against the increasing acts of violence, calling them shameful.
"I utterly condemn violence, in all its forms, directed by a small and extreme group, towards the holy places of the Christian faith, and against Christian clergy in Israel," Mr Herzog said at a memorial ceremony for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.
“This includes spitting, and the desecration of graves and churches,” he added, noting that the problem has been on the rise “in the last weeks and months especially.”
Photo: Father Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the Abbey of the Dormition of Mary in Jerusalem (right) and German Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger (left). Video posted on the twitter account of Der Spiegel’s Christoph Schult.
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