How would your 'dream church' look like?

[patrick457]

I would be one of the only Americans there. And I think that most Christians are Oriental Orthodox there.

Not really. There are some indigenous Catholics in the Holy Land, only they don’t get noticed as much by a lot of foreigners (who usually see the more populous Jews, Muslims, the Eastern and Oriental Churches). Plus the largest group in the Holy Land is not an Oriental, but an Eastern Church: the Greek Orthodox Church, with 60,000 members.

In Jerusalem, there are about 5,000 Latin-Rite Catholics (largely composed of Palestinian Arabs). Melkite Catholics are a small group in the city, yet there are 50,000 of them living in the region of Galilee. The Maronites are the largest group in Lebanon.

Another (sad) fact: the number of Christians in the Holy Land are decreasing:

-In 1900, about 20%
-In 1947, about 28%
-In 1948, over 18%
-In 1999, less than 2%

In Jerusalem:

-In 1922, about 51%
-In 1990, about 4%
-In 2004, less than 2%

Let us pray for the Christians in the Holy Land.

 

[holdencaulfield]

That is interesting information. Thank You. The Greek Orthodox there are most likely under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem? Well I’m glad there are some Catholics there. The Latin Catholics are no doubt a result of the Crusades.

 

[patrick457]

That is interesting information. Thank You. The Greek Orthodox there are most likely under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem? Well I’m glad there are some Catholics there. The Latin Catholics are no doubt a result of the Crusades.

Yep, they are under the jurisdiction of the (Greek Orthodox) Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whose headquarters are, obviously, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The present Patriarch is Patriarch Theophilos III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem (born 1952).

Latin Rite Catholics are under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Jerusalem. Its head is the (Latin) Patriarch of Jerusalem; the present Latin Patriarch is Archbishop Fouad (or Faoud) Twal (born October 23, 1940 at Madaba, Jordan), who succeeded Arch. Michel Sabbah (born March 19, 1933 at Nazareth), who resigned his position as Patriarch on March 19 of this year. In addition, the Melkites and Maronites have established dioceses for their faithful in the territories. The Latin Patriarch’s residence is in the Old City.

The office of Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem was instituted in 638 when the Armenian Church began appointing its own bishop in Jerusalem. While the office is called Patriarch in deference to the holy status of Jerusalem, the Armenian Patriarch himself is under the ecclesiastical authority of the Catholicos of Armenia and of All Armenians (also known as the Catholicos of Echmiadzin). The present Armenian Patriarch is His Beatitude Torkom Manoogian.

 

[holdencaulfield]

@patrick457:

Thanks for the info.

 

[patrick457]

@patrick457:

Thanks for the info.

You’re welcome. Now to answer your other question:

It wouldn’t surprise me. That’s amazing. I truly believe that it is the Burning Bush. I’m suprised that it doesn’t have more ornamentation around it. You know gold, Icons, lamps, incense. It is a First Class Relic I believe so, it’s really important. Does anyone know if they have any other First Class Relics there?

In this picture, you can see the (now fully-grown and transplanted) Bush:



Accordingly, the spot where the Bush was said to have originally stood is under the Altar of this Chapel (the Chapel of the Burning Bush, honoring the Annunciation); on an interesting note, visitors are also required to remove their shoes upon visiting like Moses since they tread on ‘holy ground’:

 

[holdencaulfield]

I wonder why the Burning Bush was moved. Do you know of any website that shows pictures and walkthroughs the the Monastery? I would love to look at more pictures.

 

[patrick457]

I wonder why the Burning Bush was moved. Do you know of any website that shows pictures and walkthroughs the the Monastery? I would love to look at more pictures.

Possibly because it is better for the bush to be outside, receiving its share of sunlight than being indoors where it could have been a bit of an obstruction?

Here’s two interesting links: The Physical Components of the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai of Egypt and Other Chapels and Ruins near the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai of Egypt
(Note that the site above is quite helpful and informative for all things Egyptian).

Here’s an image of the Charnel-House:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cbuildings12.jpg

Due to the scarcity of land within the confines of the monastery, it is common for monks to be buried in the cemetery, then exhumed after some time and their bones placed in the ossuary.

Aside from St. Catherine’s, there are also some other Chapels and Monasteries within the Mount Sinai area:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/catherines4-22.jpg

Here’s the so-called Gate of Confession (marked as Shrive Gate in the map). Note the stairs (with 3,700 hand-hewn steps, the earliest section of which had existed in the 4th century while being finished by an anonymous monk under Justinian’s patronage in the 6th) leading to the summit called the Stairs of Repentance:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/catherines4-01.jpg

Here’s a chapel on Aaron’s Hill, where the Golden Calf was supposedly set up:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/catherines4-13.jpg