the abbot’s cross became a ‘theme’ on the Wailing Wall

An official asked Fr. Schnabel – a Benedictine monk from the nearby Dormition Monastery – to remove his pectoral cross during the visit of the German Education Minister. The episode takes place while Christian communities denounce the escalation of acts of hate and contempt by ultra-Orthodox Jews. Meanwhile, an Israeli journalist from Channel 13 lived for a day dressed as a friar in the Old City, receiving spittle and insults, including from soldiers and children.

Jerusalem ( / Agencies) – During an official visit to the Wailing Wall, an official from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation – the Israeli state body that manages the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem – asked Father Nikodemus Schnabel that the pectoral cross be removed. The priest is the abbot of the Abbey of the Dormition of Mary, located nearby. The episode occurred while the priest was approaching the prayer area reserved for Jews – but was still outside of it – together with the German Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger. The event was recorded in a video that was later uploaded to the Twitter account of Christoph Schult, a journalist from the German weekly “Der Spiegel”. In the video you can see the Benedictine abbot Schnabel responding to the official: “This is very serious, you are not respecting my religion. You are hindering my human rights. Mine is not a provocation, I am an abbot. This is my clothing and the cross is part of it.

Fr. Schnabel connected this episode with the repeated gestures of intolerance denounced on numerous occasions by the Christian leaders in Jerusalem in recent weeks. “It is painful to see how the climate in this wonderful city is getting worse under the new Israeli government,” Abbot Schnabel wrote on his social media. “Jerusalem is big enough for everyone,” he added.

For her part, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation issued a statement apologizing “for the inconvenience caused,” but defended her employee’s actions by pointing out how “she approached and, innocently and kindly, asked [al abad] if the cross could be covered”. Precisely to avoid inconveniences such as those that occurred recently in the Old City, out of respect for the guest and the place. After he refused – the note continues – obviously he was not prevented from entering and she withdrew “.

The incident and mutual misunderstandings are emblematic of the situation in Jerusalem. A few days ago, journalist Yossi Eli, from Israeli channel 13, he wanted to personally verify the escalation of hate, which has long been denounced by Christian leaders. The journalist toured the Old City of Jerusalem dressed in a Franciscan habit. He spent a whole day dressed as a friar, accompanied by a real Franciscan, Brother Alberto Pari, with the permission of the superiors of the Custody of the Holy Land. The journalist walked in the footsteps of dozens of Christian religious of various confessions who daily go to the Holy Sepulcher or to their respective convents. According to a report filmed with a hidden camera and broadcast by the television network, a few minutes after leaving the convent of San Salvatore, the journalist was riddled with insults and spit. Gestures that later multiplied, and that were even committed by soldiers and even a child.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, Christian clergy have suffered occasional vandalism and harassment, but in recent months these incidents have increased markedly. In November, two soldiers from the Givati ​​Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces were arrested on suspicion of spitting on the Armenian archbishop and other pilgrims during a procession in the Old City. In early January, two Jewish teenagers were arrested for damaging graves at the Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery. The following week, the Maronite community center in the northern city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha was vandalized by unidentified men during the Christmas holidays.

The homes of the Armenian community in Jerusalem were also vandalized: numerous discriminatory phrases were repeatedly painted on the outside of buildings in the Armenian quarter. Some observers link the increase in this aggressive behavior to the composition of the current Israeli government, which includes far-right factions that, in the name of protecting Jerusalem’s Jewish identity, fiercely oppose public displays of Christian worship.

Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog condemned the escalation of these violent gestures, calling them “a true shame. He spoke out strongly against violence, “in all its forms, led by a small and extremist group of people, against the holy places of the Christian faith and against the Christian clergy in Israel,” he said during a memorial service for Zionism founder Theodor Herzl. “This includes spitting on and desecrating graves and churches,” a phenomenon he noted “is increasing.” .

Photo: Father Nikodemus Schnabel, Abbot of the Dormition of Mary Abbey in Jerusalem (right), German Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger (left) in the video uploaded to the Twitter account of journalist Christoph Schult, from “Der Spiegel”.