At Christianity’s Holiest Site, Rival Monks Struggle to Turn Other Cheek

“We called the police once, twice, three times, but they did nothing,” the Egyptian monk, Theophilus Alorshalemy, said in an interview, explaining his act of protest. In 2018, tensions rose again over the renovation of a ceiling, leading the police to arrest an Egyptian monk. Next door is a small courtyard whose walls are lined with wooden green doors, behind which about 20 Ethiopian monks and nuns live in several tiny rooms. But then Father Theophilus glanced at an old engraving on the wall inside the chapel, where the Ethiopian monks celebrate daily Mass. “This is traditional Coptic style, you see?”The post At Christianity’s Holiest Site, Rival Monks Struggle to Turn Other Cheek appeared first on New York Times.