Clerics and monks got into a round of fisticuffs at the traditional site of the tomb of Jesus:
Fistfights broke out yesterday between Christians gathered on the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.
"There was lots of hitting going on. Police were hit, monks were hit ... there were people with bloodied faces," said a witness in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, reputed to be Golgotha where Christ was crucified, and the site of the tomb where he was buried.
The punch-up erupted during a procession to mark the discovery in 327 by Helena, mother of Constantine, of the True Cross.
A Greek Orthodox cleric said Franciscans had left open their chapel door in what was taken as disrespect. Priests and worshippers hit one another at the doorway dividing Orthodox and Franciscans, said a police spokesman.
Arrests were made but nobody was seriously hurt.
And this wasn't the first time:
Two years ago, Ethiopian and Copt monks threw stones at each other over rights to the church roof.
I'm glad the spirit of the site is sinking in.
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