Jerusalem: Dormition Abbey vandalized

The Dormition Abbey, one of the major sites for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, was vandalised on Friday. Graffiti and anti-Christian insults in Hebrew were sprayed on a wall. Two cars were also smeared with offensive words and all tyres were slashed. The Abbey is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem and cared for by German Benedictine monks. One of the gates of the nearby Greek Orthodox cemetery was also marked with graffiti.

The offensive words compared Christians to monkeys and called for revenge against Jesus. This incident is the latest in a succession of desecration of Christian monasteries in September and October last year.

On 4 September 2012, a gate of the Latrun monastery near Jerusalem was torched and the walls sprayed with anti-Christian insults. In the following week, graffiti in Hebrew insulting Jesus, marked the gate of a Franciscan convent on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, located near the Cenacle, an important holy site for Christianity in the Holy City. A Romanian Orthodox church of St George was also the target of stones, bottles and trash.

Bishop Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem, said: “it is absolutely necessary to stop these acts of vandalism by promoting better education of the youth, especially in schools. He said he was convinced this would be a long-term process, and said it will take “a lot of patience.”

In a statement, The Latin Patriarchate said he: “condemns these acts of vandalism that is happening in Jerusalem, the Holy City for the three religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Such an act of violence is a despicable attempt to undermine coexistence between believers.”

Source: Latin Patriarchate