This scale has been in that Church for 300 years, the reason is sad for all Christians

If you were to go to Jerusalem and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, don't forget to direct your gaze to the windows on the top floor of the main facade because, just below the one on the right there is a ladder.

At first it may seem like an unimportant staircase, probably left there by someone during maintenance. However, this staircase has been there for three centuries and has a name: The Holy Stairs of the Holy Sepulcher.

HISTORY

First, no one knows for sure how the ladder got there. Some claim that it was left by a bricklayer during the restoration of the church.

However, a recording dated 1723 seems to include it, while the first written record of this scale dates back to 1757, when the Sultan Abdul Hamid he mentioned it in a writing. Then, several XNUMXth century lithographs and photographs show it.

But if the staircase was abandoned by a bricklayer in the XNUMXth century or earlier why did it stay there?

In the eighteenth century, the Ottoman sultan Osman III imposed a compromise which was called theagreement on the status quo: even in the division of Jerusalem into quadrants, he decreed that whoever was in control of a certain space at that time would continue to control it indefinitely. If more groups wanted the same site, they would have to agree on all exchanges, even the smallest ones.

This last part not only prevented wars but also the maintenance of various pilgrimage sites. So unless all the parties involved reach a common agreement on the works to improve the structures, nothing can be done.

THE SCALE AS A SYMBOL

This helps explain why the ladder was not removed from there. Currently, six groups of Christians claim this church and have decided that it is easier to leave the ladder where it is. It is also not clear who exactly the staircase belongs to, although some argue that it is owned by Armenian Apostolic Church, along with the balcony where it is located.

In 1964 the staircase took on a new meaning. Pope Paul VI he was visiting the Holy Land and felt pain when he saw that the staircase, which has become a symbol of the agreement on the status quo, also recalled the divisions among Christians.

Since the Roman Catholic Church it is one of six Christian groups with veto power on any change, the ladder will not move from that place until the desired union is achieved.

In 1981, however, someone went there and took the ladder but was immediately stopped by the Israeli guards.

In 1997 a joker managed to steal it and disappeared with the ladder for several weeks. Luckily it was found, recovered and put back in its place.

We ask God to arrive soon at the long-awaited unity and the ladder can thus be removed permanently.

Source: Church Pop.