Holy Places

HOLY PLACES. - I. NOTION. - In Christian language, the antonomastic designation of the places sanctified by the presence of Jesus in Palestine. On the sites where the deeds of the Redeemer, of the Virgin and of the Apostles took place, sacred buildings, called sanctuaries, were often erected; hence the expression h. p. often is equivalent to "sanctuaries." Holy places may be considered in relation to the importance of the memories they enshrine, or to their historical authenticity, or to the sanctuary with which they are adorned, or to the right over them held by those who possess and venerate them. From this last point of view the so-called "question of the holy places" has developed, which even today is anything but resolved.

From the religious aspect, the holy places that recall important events in the life of the Redeemer (Nativity, Agony, Resurrection, etc.) are of greater interest than those that recall only secondary events or events relating to the saints: the Pool of Siloam or Bethsaida, or the place of the conversion of St. Paul or of the martyrdom of St. Stephen.

The judgment on their "authenticity" is established by two facts: how a holy place corresponds to the Gospel data and how it is attested as such by ancient and constant affirmations. Only when these two conditions are met is a holy place "authentic"; otherwise, a holy place is commemorative and maintained by the piety of the faithful. Examples of the first are Bethlehem, Gethsemane, the Holy Sepulchre, etc.; of the second, several stations of the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem. Naturally, among the great series of holy places there is a whole gradation; the more they fulfill the two requirements, the more they enjoy historical value. In any case, one arrives only at a moral certainty. For most of the holy places there is a literary void until the 4th century, but it can easily be filled by thinking of the uninterrupted series of bishops, who at first were also relatives of the Lord, and of the movements both devotional, already attested by the 2nd century, and scholarly, already begun with Origen, despite the tragic events that befell Palestine in the first Christian centuries.

Until the Constantinian peace, with the exception of Sion (v.), there were only holy places that were venerated, whereas afterward the sanctuaries were erected. In erecting these, the members of the imperial family distinguished themselves: St. Helena and Constantine erected the sanctuaries of the Holy Sepulchre, of the Eleona, of Bethlehem and of Mamre, Eudocia the Martyrium of St. Stephen, Justinian rebuilt Bethlehem. No less zeal was shown by the clergy, the monks and the foreigners who came to live in the holy places. The greatest development occurred from the 4th-6th centuries, when not only the Gospel texts but also apocryphal texts suggested the erection of sanctuaries. Many sanctuaries were ruined by the Persian invasion

(614); others, even if restored shortly afterward, were destined for decay with the Arab occupation of Palestine (634). In the Crusader period the sanctuaries were again erected; but once the Latin kingdom fell they were once more condemned to abandonment. Only some could be saved by the Latins of the Custody (v.) of the Holy Land, who restored them in exchange for large sums. With the last century a building movement began again, which today is beginning to be paralyzed. The style in which the sanctuaries were erected was late Roman and Byzantine at first, then Romanesque and in modern times neo-classical and a return to the old styles. Noteworthy is the movement, promoted by the Custody of the Holy Land and directed by the architect A. Barluozi, to create sanctuaries suited to dispose the soul to the mystery, e.g., joy at Thabor, sorrow at Gethsemane, in an eclectic style.

Precisely because they were dear to Christians, the holy places were often an occasion of struggles among them to possess and officiate at them. The clergy was and is most interested; the various governments too have concerned themselves with protecting the rights of their nationals. Thus the struggles originating from religious motives also acquired a political aspect. During the Byzantine period the competitions to possess the holy places were prompted by theological motives; it suffices to recall the consecration of the Holy Sepulchre (335) and the assault on the Holy City by 10,000 monks (512-18). During the Crusader period the Latins had the preponderance, without however excluding the other rites. Once Palestine was reoccupied by the Arabs, when by then the Church had been dividing into more or less national churches, the struggles of rite and nation arose.

During the Mamluk period the Franciscans (from 1335) and the Georgians had greater rights, not without some struggle among themselves, e.g., regarding Calvary (512). With the Turkish period (1517-1919) came the real struggle, which resulted in nauseating deeds and wars between nations. Let the Crimean one be recalled. The motive was the fact that the Greeks, taking advantage of the benefits that came to them from Turkish subjection, intended to remove the Latins from all the sanctuaries, on the pretext that the Latins were foreigners. The European powers, headed by France, generally favored the Latins, while Prussia supported the Greeks. The liveliest struggles occurred from 1620 to 1690, then partially in the 18th-19th centuries. To settle something, a status quo was also fixed, but so vague that it failed to prevent bitter struggles.

Bellarmino Bagatti

The resolution of 29 Nov. 1947 of the U.N. Assembly, which divided Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews and created a new international city, Jerusalem, provided for the internationalization of the holy places. That resolution, however, for reasons of various kinds, has not been fully applied.

It contains five fundamental provisions: 1) no attack shall be made against the existing rights concerning the holy places, religious buildings or sites; 2) as regards the holy places, freedom of access, of visit and of transit shall be guaranteed, in conformity with existing rights, for all residents or citizens of the other State and of the city of Jerusalem, as well as for all foreigners, without distinction of nationality, except for reasons of national security or relating to the maintenance of public order and tranquillity; 3) the holy places, religious buildings or sites shall be preserved. Any action of a nature capable of compromising in any way their sacred character shall be forbidden. If, in given circumstances, the government believes that there are urgent repairs to be made to a sanctuary, a building or any religious site, it may invite the community concerned to proceed with the repairs. In the event that, within a reasonable period of time, its request is not heeded, it may itself proceed with the repairs at the expense of the communities concerned; 4) no tax shall be levied on the holy places, buildings and religious sites that were exempt from it at the time of the creation of the State. No modification shall be made to the incidence of taxes that constitutes a discrimination among the owners or occupants of the holy places, buildings or religious sites, or that places the owners or occupants in a less favorable situation, in relation to the general incidence of taxes, than it was at the time of the adoption of the Assembly's recommendations. 5) the Government of the city of Jerusalem shall have the right to decide whether the provisions of the State's Constitution concerning the holy places are well observed and applied. It shall likewise have the right to take all decisions relating to the disputes of the various communities.

For the U.N., religious peace must reign around the Holy Places, and since this seems established on the basis of the status quo, the latter must be preserved and sanctioned. Such is the entirely pragmatic thinking of the authors of the new international charter of the Holy Places. It matters little that certain painful present-day situations are due to despoilments and usurpations of the past; the essential thing is that the equilibrium achieved around the present positions be preserved in the greatest interest of religious peace.

On Dec. 9, 1949, the U.N. reaffirmed its intention "to establish in Jerusalem a permanent international regime which provides adequate guarantees for the protection of the Holy Places both in Jerusalem and outside that city." On Apr. 4, 1950, the text of the new Statute for the city of Jerusalem was approved by the United Nations Trusteeship Council. The State of Israel is opposed to the internationalization of Jerusalem as a body separate from the remaining Israeli territory, for reasons of an economic and moral character, and proposes instead the extraterritoriality of the individual sanctuaries, under the protection of a commissioner, the local representative of the U.N.

The Arab State of Jordan refuses to accept the plan for the internationalization of Jerusalem, inasmuch as it declares itself the protector of the Holy Places without need of a special Statute and a separate government. On Jan. 15, 1951, 'Abdallāh, king of Jordan, appointed and installed Najeb Naâsibî Pâsâ as "inspector of the Haram es-Serif and high custodian of the Holy Places." The consuls of England, America, Irān, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland were present; no consul of the Catholic nations was present.

As regards the individual Holy Places, the present situation is as follows.

The Sanctuaries in dispute with other, non-Catholic rites are three: the Holy Sepulchre, the Nativity of Bethlehem and the tomb of the Madonna in the valley of Josaphat. To these must be added the Holy Cenacle, disputed by the Jews.

1. The Holy Sepulchre. a) Places currently possessed by the Franciscans: 1) the southern half of Calvary; 2) the chapel of the Invention of the Cross and the stairway leading to it; 3) the altar of St. Mary Magdalene and the surrounding space; 4) the altar and chapel of the Apparition of the risen Jesus to the Virgin; 5) the small chapel, called of the Spasimo and also of the Franks, situated in the southern part of Calvary, with the stairway outside the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre that leads to the said chapel; 6) half of the gallery that circles around the Rotunda; 7) the gallery above the so-called seven arches of the Virgin; 8) the passage, on the same level as the preceding gallery, for ascending to the dome. b) Places claimed by the Franciscans: 1) the entire edicule of the Holy Sepulchre; 2) the great lead dome and the small dome beneath it, which cover the Holy Sepulchre itself; 3) the entire floor surrounding the Holy Sepulchre, and the circular space between the pillars of the Rotunda and the wall, today occupied by rooms built by the Greeks after the fire of 1808; 4) the great arch that separates the Rotunda from the central nave of the basilica, and which currently serves as the choir for the Latins when they celebrate their religious functions before the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre; 5) the Stone of Unction and the floor surrounding it up to the main door of the basilica; 6) the room adjacent to the Stone of Unction, currently occupied by the Greeks; 7) the four lower arches, which form the chapel of Adam, before which until 1810 there existed the tombs of Godfrey of Bouillon and of Baldwin, made to disappear by the Greeks; 8) the other five tombs of the Latin kings of Jerusalem, situated at the foot of the wall that closes the choir of the Greeks; 9) the room placed at the side of the chapel of Adam; 10) the seven arches called of the Virgin; 11) the chapel called the Prison of Christ; 12) the entire square in front of the door of the basilica.

2. Sanctuary of the Nativity at Bethlehem. a) Places currently possessed by the Franciscans: 1) the altar of the Manger (not to be confused with the nearby altar of the Nativity); 2) the silver star with a Latin inscription, fixed beneath the altar of the Nativity; 3) the asbestos hangings with the coat of arms of the Holy Land, which cover the walls of the Grotto. b) Places claimed by the Franciscans: 1) the entire great Constantinian Basilica, including the high altar, the presbytery and the apse, with the exception of the baptistery; 2) the entire Grotto of the Manger with the altar of the Nativity; 3) the two stairways that lead to the Grotto of the Nativity; 4) the three keys of the three side doors of the Grotto; 5) the square in front of the basilica; 6) the adjacent cemetery; 7) the so-called Grotto of the Shepherds and the lands surrounding it, in the locality of Beth Sahûr, a short distance from Bethlehem.

3. The Tomb of the Virgin. This Sanctuary of the valley of Josaphat is claimed by the Franciscans: 1) in its entirety, with the altars of St. Joseph, St. Joachim and St. Anne; 2) in exclusive custody, while permitting — as already at other times — liturgical functions to the other non-Catholic Eastern rites, at their request.

4. The Holy Cenacle. This Sanctuary was in peaceful possession of the Franciscans until 1452; from it they were definitively evicted in 1551. At the end of the war of 1914-18 the Italian government was about to obtain the restitution of the said Sanctuary, when England intervened arbitrarily and had it included in the so-called "Question of the Holy Places." Today the Holy Cenacle is located in the Israeli zone and the Jews dispute it with the Catholics.

5. Other sanctuaries exclusively officiated by the Franciscans: 1) Gethsemane; 2) the chapel of the Flagellation; 3) the oratory of the V station of the Way of the Cross and that of the VII station; 4) the grotto of Gethsemane; 5) the "Dominus flevit" on the western slope of the Mount of Olives; 6) the place of the Baptism on the bank of the Jordan; 7) Bethphage; 8) at Bethlehem the Grotto of the Milk of the Virgin, the House of St. Joseph and the Field of the Shepherds; 9) at 'Ajn Kârim the sanctuary of St. John in Montana, that of the Visitation and that of St. John the Baptist in the desert; 10) at Emmaus-Qubejbeh the house of St. Cleopas; 11) at Ramleh the sanctuary of St. Nicodemus; 12) at Jaffa the church of St. Peter the apostle, near the house of Simon the tanner; 13) at Nazareth the sanctuary of the Annunciation of the Virgin, the house and workshop of St. Joseph, the Mensa Christi, the sanctuary of the Trembling of the Virgin, the chapel of St. James the Greater on the so-called house of Zebedee, the Precipice; 14) the sanctuary of Naim; 15) Cana of Galilee; 16) at Sephoria the sanctuary of St. Anne (in ruins); 17) the sanctuary of the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor; 18) at Cana of Galilee also the house of St. Bartholomew the apostle; 19) at the lake of Tiberias the church of the Primacy of St. Peter; 20) at Capernaum the synagogue in which Jesus taught; 21) at Damascus the house of Ananias.

6. Other Sanctuaries not in complete possession of the Franciscans: 1) at Jerusalem the house of Annas and Caiaphas (Armenian Sisters); 2) at Bethany the tomb of Lazarus (Muslims); 3) on the Mount of Olives the place of the Ascension (Muslims); 4) St. Anne (White Fathers).

7. Non-Franciscan sanctuaries: 1) The Dormition of the Virgin on Sion (Benedictine Fathers); 2) at Jerusalem the sanctuary of the beheading of St. James the Greater (non-united Armenians), St. Stephen outside the Damascus gate (Dominican Fathers), the grotto of St. Peter in Galli cantu (Assumptionist Fathers), the sanctuary of the Pater Noster (Carmelite Sisters); 3) at 'Ajn Kârim the fountain of the Virgin; 4) at Jericho the Mount of the Quarantine (Greeks); 5) at Jaffa the house of Simon the tanner (mosque); 6) at Damascus the house of Judas in the vicus rectus (mosque).

Many other Holy Places are remembered by the piety of medieval pilgrims, and are now partly abandoned and partly forgotten. With regard to these secondary sanctuaries and Holy Places, the use of a critical spirit would be out of place.

Martiniano Roncaglia