King Abdullah of Jordan has offered to contribute to the restoration of the centrepiece of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The gesture by a Muslim sovereign has been widely welcomed. According to the Jordan News Agency, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III praised the King's generosity and said he embodied "in deed, and not only in word, the shared living of Muslims and Christians all over the world and particularly in the Holy Land".
The Roman Catholic Church's representative in Jerusalem, Bishop William Shomali described it as "excellent news, news of a highly symbolic character, since the Holy Sepulchre is the most sacred place for Christians of all confessions".
Agreement on the repair of the Aedicule, the shrine at the heart of the complex under which is supposedly located the tomb of Jesus, was reached after years of tortuous negotiations between the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, which share responsibility for it. The renovation will cost $3.4 million and will see the monument, which in its present form dates back to 1810, completely rebuilt. The marble slabs will be taken off, the 12th century Crusader shrine beneath will be repaired and the cracks in the rock-hewn tomb under that, where many Christians believe Christ was actually buried, will be filled.
It is unclear how much King Abdullah will contribute to the restoration. However, while his gesture is seen as a generous statement of solidarity with Christians, it is also politically calculated. The holy places of Jerusalem, including not only Christian sites but also the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, were under Jordanian sovereignty until the 1967 Six Day War. The peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994 pledged Israel to respect Jordan's historic role in caring for the sites. However, this has become an increasingly contested area with the upsurge in Palestinian unrest.
In his response to the gift, Patriarch Theophilos refers to Jordan's historic claims, saying that its role in protecting Christians in the Holy Land is "clear and undeniable". The donation is "just more proof of His Majesty King Abdullah's commitment, in word and in deed, to the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, as has always been the case with the Hashemites and the Jordanian people", the Patriarch said.
He also referred to an agreement reached in 637 AD when Jerusalem was conquered by the Arabs. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was allowed to continue as a place of Christian worship. "Our churches will continue to pray for the peace and security of Jordan, its army, its security agencies, its people, and its leader who justly and honestly continues the Pact of Omar," he added.
