![]() One must remember that until the modern era, the Muslim Ottoman Turks ruled the Holy Land and either replaced old Christian sites with Muslim landmarks or kept the Christian sites while opening them for pilgrims. ![]() Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, OP, in his best-selling “The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide” (fifth edition, 2008) called the Church of the Ascension the “Mosque of the Ascension,” because it is under the authority of the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem. When this writer visited the edicule in 2017, the footprints of the Ascending Christ were said to have been impressed on a slab of stone that pilgrims could touch.įr. In the 7th century, the Frankish monk-bishop Arculf described the complex as having a “central edicule containing the footprints of Christ, plainly and clearly impressed in the dust, inside a railing.” ![]() View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olivesĭespite the changes wrought by religious and geopolitical vicissitudes, the edicule has more or less remained. The complex underwent changes across the centuries especially after the final Muslim conquest in the 12th century. The chapel or edicule was once part of a complex where it was the central feature. How the two sites may complement one another will be pointed out later.Īscension is located on the Mount of Olives in an Arab. In fact the French flag is proudly flown on the site. Furthermore it stands on land claimed by the French republic. They compete because while Ascension is in the administration of the Muslims, who call it the Dome or Mosque of the Ascension, the Pater Noster church is a Catholic church. Depending on who you’re talking to, the two sites either compete with or complement one aisnother. The two sites are the Chapel of the Ascension and the Church of the Pater Noster nearby, both on the Mount of Olives. May 24 will be Ascension Sunday, and since the coronavirus in the Holy Land has resulted in the cancelation of all pilgrimages, expect the two sites associated with the Lord’s Ascension in Jerusalem to be bereft of pilgrims. ![]() Chapel of the Ascension -PHOTOS BY LITO ZULUETA ![]()
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