Joe Biden Visits The Church of Nativity

July 31, 2022212 views0

Joe Biden Visits The Church of Nativity

2022-07-31T10:54:19+01:00

By Church News

US President Joe Biden visited Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity to show support for Christians “who face challenges across the region,” the White House said.Biden met with Church leaders, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton and the Armenian Patriarch, Nourhan Manougian.The Palestinian Tourism minister Rula Ma’ayah welcomed Biden and took the time to explain the history of the church’s 1,000-year-old mosaics.The Church of the Nativity or Basilica of the Nativity is a basilica located in Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestine.The grotto it contains holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus. The Grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great a short time after his mother Helena’s visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325–326, on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus.That original basilica was likely built between 330 and 333, is already mentioned in 333, and was dedicated on 31 May 339.It was destroyed by fire during the Samaritan revolts of the sixth century, possibly in 529, and a new basilica was built several years later by Byzantine Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), who added a porch or narthex, and replaced the octagonal sanctuary with a cruciform transept complete with three apses, but largely preserved the original character of the building, with an atrium and a basilica consisting of a nave with four side aisles.The Church of the Nativity, while remaining unchanged since the Justinianic reconstruction, has seen numerous repairs and additions, especially from the Crusader period, such as two bell towers (now gone), wall mosaics and paintings (partially preserved).Over the centuries, the surrounding compound has been expanded, and today it covers approximately 12,000 square meters, comprising three different monasteries: one Roman Catholic, one Armenian Apostolic, and one Greek Orthodox, of which the first two contain bell towers built during the modern era.ALSO READ Faith Groups To Share £1.3m UK Government Funds, Support Communities