HOLY LAND SHRINES TO CLOSE FOR TWO DAYS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 5, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a communique from the three patriarchs of Jerusalem (Greek-Orthodox, Latin and Armenian) and the Custos of the Holy Land, regarding the Israeli government's decision to authorize the building of a mosque next to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The first stone of the mosque is to be laid on November 8.

"We, the representatives of the Christian communities of the Holy land, view this decision with grave concern. Not only is it a clear discrimination against the Christian community in Galilee, it is equally an abandonment of the rule of law by the government and an attempt to promote electoral interests at the expense of the national unity of the Palestinian people across the land.

"Consequently," they continue, "and to express the disapprobation of all the Churches at the way that their rights have been summarily violated, we wish to inform our faithful masses as well as pilgrims that all the shrines of the Holy Land will be closed on November 22 and 23, 1999."

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