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Article: Arafat pays visit to Church of the Nativity.(Yasir Arafat)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- May 22, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Yasir Arafat's first stop on a tour of the West Bank following his release from Israeli confinement was the Church of the Nativity, scene of a 39-day siege. Waking arm-in-arm with clergy, the Palestinian president on May 13 descended into the grotto that according to tradition is the birthplace of Jesus. "This place will be always and forever inside our hearts, minds and beliefs," he said.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irenaeus I said mass at the church, the first Orthodox service there in five weeks. The service climaxed a weekend of cleaning and carting out of debris.
The 1,400-year-old church was in disarray, but generally unharmed after being inhabited by ...