Denominations join in prayer, cleanup

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Clergy from rival Christian denominations held hands in the Church of the Nativity on Saturday and said the Lord's Prayer in a rare display of unity as they reclaimed the shrine after a 39-day standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen.

Throughout the day, monks and volunteers scrubbed the church, where tradition holds that Jesus was born, clearing out trash left behind by more than 200 Palestinians who holed up inside for nearly six weeks.

The siege was lifted Friday after 13 militiamen were deported to Cyprus and 26 others were sent to the Gaza Strip. After the standoff ended, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem, where residents had been confined to their homes under round-the-clock curfew since April 2.

Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, visited the church Saturday. In the grotto, a few steps down from the basilica, Sabbah knelt and kissed a silver star on the marble floor, revered by Christians as the spot of Jesus' birth.

Sabbah and senior clergymen from other denominations, including Greek and Syrian Orthodox, held hands in the grotto and said the Lord's Prayer in Arabic.

The denominations often are at odds in the church, where they jealously guard their turf. Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox and the Armenian Orthodox each control different areas of the fourth century basilica. In one incident in the mid-1980s, monks from different sects fought with broomsticks over who had the right to clean a small section of the wall.

In Saturday's cleanup, each group concentrated on its area, but in a spirit of togetherness. Three Greek-Orthodox monks wearing latex gloves carried a rolled up carpet across the stone floor. Another monk wiped an icon with a yellow rag and others cleaned smudges from the walls with sponges.

On Friday, after the end of the siege, the basilica had reeked of urine. The stone floor was covered with dirty blankets and mattresses, cigarette lighters and sunglasses. Leftover food covered an altar.

Yet the basilica emerged with little permanent damage.

A special service is planned for today led by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a Vatican envoy who had been involved in negotiations to end the standoff. It will be a service of "praise, redemption and reconciliation," carrying the benediction of Pope John Paul II, said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

In other developments Saturday:

Israel put off its offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip, leaving Palestinian-run territories free of Israeli troops for the first time in six weeks.

Palestinian officials expressed little relief, however, as Israeli tanks continued to sit on the border with Gaza. "Postponed doesn't mean canceled," said Saeb Erekat, a senior official in the Palestinian Authority.

A peace rally drew about 50,000 people from all over the country to Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. Participants demanded a policy of compromise instead of military reprisal for terror attacks. It was one of the biggest peace rallies since the current Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.

In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak met with Saudi and Syrian leaders to discuss ways out of the Mideast conflict.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright