Immovable ladder on ledge over entrance to Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Status Quo (; ) is an understanding among religious communities with respect to nine shared religious sites in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. Other holy places in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

were not deemed subject to the Status Quo, because the authorities of one religion or community within a religion are in recognized or effective possession of them. The ''

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

'' stemmed from a (decree) of Ottoman sultan Osman III in 1757 that preserved the division of ownership and responsibilities of various

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

holy places. Further firmans issued in 1852 and 1853 affirmed that no changes could be made without consensus from all six Christian communities; these firmans received international recognition in Article 9 of the

Treaty of Paris (1856) The Treaty of Paris of 1856, signed on 30 March 1856 at the Congress of Paris (1856), Congress of Paris, brought an end to the Crimean War (1853–1856) between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom of G ...

. The term ''status quo'' was first used in regard to the Holy Places in the

Treaty of Berlin (1878) The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the R ...

. The 1929 summary prepared by L. G. A. Cust, ''The Status Quo in the Holy Places'', became the standard text on the subject, and the details were further formalized in the 1949 United Nations Conciliation Commission after the 1947–1949 Palestine war.

History

Controlled by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and then, following its division, by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, these eastern sites first became a point of contention in the centuries following 1054, when the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

separated. Following the seizure of the Holy Land by knights from the West in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, the Catholic church became the custodian of the churches in Jerusalem. With the defeat of the crusader states and the rise of the Ottoman Empire, control of the sites oscillated between the Catholic (Latin) and the Orthodox (Greek) churches, depending upon which could obtain a favorable (decree) from the Ottoman

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

at a particular time, often through outright bribery. Violent clashes were not uncommon. There was no agreement about this question, although it was discussed at the negotiations to the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League in 1699. During the

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

of 1757, Orthodox Christians reportedly took over some of the Franciscan-controlled church, possibly leading Sultan Osman III to write a 1757 decree forming the basis of the

.Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, 1757
(in Spanish). In the years preceding the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

(1853–1856),

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

of France pressured the sultan to invalidate the 1757 status quo in favor of the Catholic church, leading in part to

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

declaring war in favor of the Orthodox church's rights. This resulted in 1852 and 1853 by Sultan

Abdülmecid I Abdülmecid I (, ; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdülmecid's ...

which received international recognition in Article 9 of the

leaving the status quo intact. The existing territorial division was solidified amongst the communities, the treaty stating that "The actual status quo will be maintained and the Jerusalem shrines, whether owned in common or exclusively by the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

communities, will all remain forever in their present state." Despite this declaration, there are no unanimous terms defining the status quo, sometimes causing contradictory differences of opinion. Despite the arguments over who would control what aspects of these sites, the Status Quo has remained largely intact from the 18th century to the present. The term ''status quo'' was first used in regards to the Holy Places in Article 62 of the

. A summary of the Status Quo prepared by L. G. A. Cust, a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

of the British Mandate, ''The Status Quo in the Holy Places'', quickly became the standard text on the subject.

Sites

United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine Working Paper on the Holy Places

According to the United Nations Conciliation Commission, the Status Quo applies to nine sites in

and

, which Cust separates into three categories: *Disputed between Christian denominations: ** The

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...

and its dependencies, Jerusalem *** The Deir es-Sultan, on top of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem ** The

Tomb of the Virgin Mary Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary, also Tomb of the Virgin Mary (; ; ; ) or the Church of the Assumption (), is a Christian church built around an ancient Judean rock-cut tomb in the Kidron Valley – at the foot of Mount of Olives, in Eas ...

, Jerusalem ** The

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine. The grotto holds a prominent religious significance to Christianity, Christians of various denominations as the Nativity of Jesus, ...

, Bethlehem ** The Chapel of the Milk Grotto, Bethlehem (no records exist): "The Grotto of the Milk and the Shepherd's Field near Bethlehem are also in general subject to the Status Quo, but in this connexion there is nothing on record concerning these two sites." ** The Chapel of the Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem (no records exist) *Disputed between Christians and Muslims: ** The Chapel of the Ascension, Jerusalem *Disputed between Jews and Muslims: ** The

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

, Jerusalem **

Rachel's Tomb Rachel's Tomb ( ''Qǝbūrat Rāḥēl''; Modern ''Qever Raḥel;'' ''Qabr Rāḥīl'') is a site revered as the burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel. The site is also referred to as the Bilal bin Rabah mosque (). The tomb is held in ...

, Bethlehem

David's Tomb and Cenacle

David's Tomb David's Tomb (; ) is a site that, according to an early medieval (9th century) tradition, is associated with the burial of the biblical king David. During the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate periods, Maqam Al-Nabi ...

and Cenacle were not part of the Status quo arrangement during the British Mandate for Palestine; it is nevertheless in a similar position, being disputed by the Catholics who have built the current structure, the Muslims (the Ottoman sultan confiscated it from the Franciscans), and Jewish and Israeli institutions, who took control of it in 1948.

Immovable items

Immovable ladder

The so-called immovable ladder under the window of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, made of Lebanon cedar wood, was in place by 1728 and has apparently remained there since the 1757 status quo was established (with temporary moves occurring in 1997 and 2009). The ladder is referred to as immovable due to the agreement of the Status Quo that no cleric of the six Churches may move, rearrange, or alter any property without the consent of the other five orders.

Immovable washing vessels

The Church of the Tomb of Mary has also been historically used by Muslims. The , a niche indicating the direction of Mecca, is currently boarded up. The two old bronze vessels once used by Muslims for ritual washing and the drainage opening underneath them are not being used anymore, but are nevertheless kept in their dedicated place.

References

Footnotes Citations

Sources

* * * Marlen Eordegian (2003)
"British and Israeli Maintenance of the Status Quo in the Holy Places of Christendom"
''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 35, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 307–328

External links

* ttp://www.custodia.org/default.asp?id=433 Custody of the Holy Land, ''Status Quo'' – a short overviewbr> Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am, "1,000 years of rivalry – and a little bit of harmony – at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher", in ''Times of Israel'', "7 September 2012"Status Quo: All You Need to Know - a detailed look at Status Quo from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
{{Church buildings in Betlehem Archaeological sites in Jerusalem Christian holy places Christian pilgrimages 18th century in Jerusalem Islamic holy places Jewish holy places Jews from Ottoman Palestine Law of the Ottoman Empire Religious buildings and structures in Jerusalem Religion in Jerusalem Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Temple Mount Western Wall Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Jordan)