November 10, 1999

Israeli officials will open door in sepulchre
___JERUSALEM (RNS)--Israel's Ministry of Public Security is planning to seize the initiative from rival Christian church denominations and open an emergency exit in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, officials in the ministry said Nov. 2.
___Leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian denominations, which all control different sections of the ancient church structure, have been at odds for months over the question of a second exit in the church where tradition holds that Jesus was buried.
___Israeli police fear the church could pose a fire hazard to some of the million or more millennial pilgrims expected to visit the site, particularly when the church is packed with holiday visitors. There is currently just one entrance and exit to the church.
___"Vis-a-vis the exit that should be opened in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Minister of Public Security Shlomo Ben Ami believes that it should be the government's responsibility to guarantee public safety," Ben Ami spokeswoman Linda Menuhin said.
___She said a government commission had been established to decide exactly where the door should be sited and how the necessary construction should proceed.
___Privately, leaders of some church denominations have said they would prefer Israel take charge of the affair in order to break a long-standing impasse over the siting of the exit. Other church leaders, however, resent what they view as government intervention into the status of private church property and tradition.

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