The three churches who have joint guardianship over the Edicule, the holy site where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead, have agreed to a restoration project to shore up the foundation under and around the tomb.
The work will be the next stage in a collaborative restoration project which began in 2016. According to a Catholic News Service report, the work is necessary to repair damage to the floor resulting from condensation and leaky pipes, some of which date back to the Ottoman Empire.
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Churches, Once at Odds, Come Together to Restore Jesus’ Tomb
“The restoration of the pavement of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is important because the actual condition of the pavement is in a state of ruin,” Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, told Catholic News Service.
Patton said the renovations would “help stabilize the foundation of the Edicule and the floor of the rotunda where it is located.”
Leaders of the three churches will raise money for the restoration work which which will also be financed by the Vatican and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
According to Franciscan Terra Sancta magazine this work could lead to further archaeological discoveries building upon those found in the last century by Father Virgilio Corbo, a Franciscan archaeologist. Those discoveries include: the remains of the basilica built by Emperor Constantine beginning in 324; earlier foundations of the Temple of Hadrian, constructed in 135; and first-century tombs near Calvary as well as the graves of Crusader knights.
And today we celebrate...