ABSTRACT
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is revered as the site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ by several Christian sects who vie zealously for control over different parts of the structure. These sects attempt to encroach on their rivals’ space while continuing to defend their exclusive rights to sections that have traditionally been under their control. In May 1997, a sewer cover in the church interior broke. Concerned that the exposed sewer hole might endanger worshipers, Metropolitan Daniel, the senior Greek Orthodox priest in the church, tried to replace the cover.1 A group of Armenian monks happened to see his activities, attacked the eighty year-old metropolitan and beat him within an inch of his life. The sewer hole, they later explained, was located in the Armenian, and not the Greek Orthodox, part of the church. A special committee convened by the Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Latin Patriarchates in response to this incident could not resolve the question of jurisdiction over the sewer cover. For several years after this incident, it remained broken, covered with a rickety board.2
