Speaker 1:

Another day dawns in the holiest of holy places for Christians. At the site where Jesus was crucified and buried, Ethiopian monk Walter [Jurgis 00:00:39] unlocks a tiny church called the Chapel of the Four Bodiless Living Creatures.

This should be a sanctuary for worship, but something very unsanctimonious is happening here. Walter Jurgis is feeling nervous, because the keys he holds are hot property. He and the other Ethiopians are accused of taking over someone else's church.

Speaker 2:

Why they took it from us? Why? Why? And in a very bad way.

Speaker 1:

Forget Christian charity. This is an unholy war between the Egyptian Coptic church and some Ethiopian monks. A battle for some kind of presence at this sacred site. The Egyptians will tell you they allowed the Ethiopians in as guests 350 years ago. Well, those guests have been here ever since.

The Ethiopians are one of the smallest Christian sects in the Holy Land, but they trace their history back to the biblical Queen of Sheba. As well as the two chapels they occupy, they've managed to takeover a monastery next door.The tiny mud brick cottages offer a tranquil atmosphere for meditation.

Egyptian church leaders don't allow their followers here anymore, and even the Egyptian government has banned pilgrims from visiting what it regards as occupied shrines.

But the Ethiopians are in no doubt about their claim for this place.

Mathues:

[foreign language 00:02:13]

Speaker 1:

Their archbishop told me that for the last 1600 years, this has been their holiest site.

The Ethiopians really believe they own this place. They claim they even held the deeds, but back in 1838 the Egyptians seized them and burned them.

But they waited until 1970 to really take over. While the Egyptians were at Easter mass at a church not far from here, the Ethiopians moved in and changed the locks.

Speaker 2:

It means that it is a Coptic heritage, a Coptic ownership, a Coptic rights.

Speaker 1:

The old city of Jerusalem is full of stories of occupation. They city itself has been occupied by the Israelis since the 1967 war. Now Jewish administrators sort out Christian disputes.

The Israeli high court has ruled that the chapels and monastery belong to the Egyptians. But 22 years after that decision, no one is prepared to force the Ethiopians out.

Speaker 4:

The government is looking more or less for a compromise, and a compromise in the holy places is really difficult to reach. So it takes time.

Speaker 1:

Could it be that you don't want to upset the Ethiopians because there are still Jews coming from Ethiopia, and you don't want to offend the Egyptians because Egypt is the only Arab state you have peace with?

Speaker 4:

It has many aspects. Maybe it have also a political aspect, but it has also the religious aspect.

Speaker 5:

[foreign language 00:03:53]

Speaker 1:

Religion has driven life in Jerusalem for centuries. For Muslims, there's the Dome of the Rock, from where the prophet Muhammad ascended to paradise.

Five minutes away, there's the holiest site for the Jews, the Western Wall, where Solomon's first temple was built.

And for Christian pilgrims, the fourth century Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It's at this site Jesus spent his last mortal hour.

The Egyptians and Ethiopians aren't the only ones feuding here. Over the years, leaders of six churches have argued over everything from who should change the light bulbs to who should sweep certain steps.

After a 15 year wrangle, they've at last agreed on what colour they should paint the ceiling.

Mathues:

[foreign language 00:04:39]

Speaker 1:

At Ethiopians headquarters, Archbishop [Mathues 00:04:42] simply wants the Egyptians to lay off.

Mathues:

[foreign language 00:04:46]

Speaker 1:

They have their own sites, he told me, we disturbed by their behaviour. As soon as they forget about this, we'll be brothers again.

Mathues:

[foreign language 00:04:58]

Speaker 1:

Do you think that God would be displease at all of this fighting?

Speaker 2:

God. God, you mean God? Yeah. Sure. But I like to get our rights, but in very peaceful and civilised manner.

Speaker 1:

Father [Abuna 00:05:21] [Gavrama 00:05:23] doesn't care about Israeli high court decisions. He serves God in the best way he can. At the end of another day's worship at the Chapel of the Four Bodiless Living Creatures, he secures the church to keep out unwanted guests, and to lock out the Egyptians who'd gladly take their church back.