MONASTIC SQUABBLING makes the news again, this time in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem:

Palestinian government forced to save birthplace of Christ as monks squabble over restoration
The monks who tend the grotto under the Byzantine basilica of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem should enjoy lives of quiet, meditative service to the lofty ideals of their faith.

By Tim Butcher in Bethlehem and Angus McDowall
Last Updated: 6:53PM GMT 20 Dec 2008 (The Telegraph

When they wash the grotto's marbled altar and guard its silver lamps, they are watching over the cradle of the Christian world: the exact spot where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born.

Yet despite this sacred trust, a ten-year row between the different sects that manage the church has forced the Palestinian government's Muslim leaders to intervene to prevent the basilica's ancient lead roof from collapsing on its mosaic floors.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian national authority, has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a decree that the church must be repaired.

[...]

The Palestine Exploration Fund, a British charity founded in the 19th century to preserve the monuments of the Holy Land, described the roof's condition as "nothing short of a scandal".

Discreetly announced in a Jerusalem paper, Mr Abbas' decree was careful to say the three groups would be fully consulted by a special committee set up by the Palestinian authorities.

But there was no hiding the sense of frustration at the bickering between the sects that had threatened a shrine which is one of the greatest tourist attractions in the Holy Land.

His intervention, however, appears to have worked where religious harmony did not: the heads of the three churches have agreed to put aside their squabbles and accept the planned renovation.

Architectural and archaeological experts expressed their delight at the news of the presidential decree.

[...]

Sigh. Well, I'm glad someone is seeing to this.