Posted on Oct 12, 2012 in Diocese, News of diocese
JERUSALEM – Yet again, a Christian church has been the target of vandalism in Jerusalem. This time, it was at the Romanian Orthodox church of Saint George, very close to the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim.
AFP- Vandals threw stones, bottles and trash at the Church. This is the latest act of vandalism targeting Christian places of worship in Israel, Israeli police said. Thankfully, there was no one hurt. The spokesman for the Church said that the front door of the building was damaged. Israeli police opened an investigation.
This incident comes after the desecration of several Catholic monasteries in recent weeks and has raised an outcry by religious representatives and Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Last week, graffiti insulting Jesus was tagged in Hebrew on the front door of the Franciscan monastery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Cenacle. On September 4, Israeli religious extremists allegedly set fire at the door of the Trappist monastery at Latrun, near Jerusalem. There too anti-Christian insults where tagged on the walls.
The Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land have expressed their “profound dismay at such actions” and called for “a change in the educational system in some schools (in Israel) where children are taught contempt and intolerance.”
Most rabbis forbid attacks against Christians and their institutions, but said that they cannot prevent recurring acts of vandalism attributed to young people from the ultra-Orthodox community or the extreme right. Despite the condemning of such acts by Israeli authorities, perpetrators are rarely if ever apprehended and brought to justice.
Source: AFP
