Status Quo (Jerusalem and Bethlehem)

The immovable ladder in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pictured in 2009, has remained in the same location at least since the 18th century as a result of the Status Quo.

The Status Quo (Hebrew: סטטוס קוו; Arabic: الوضع الراهن) is an understanding among religious communities with respect to nine shared religious sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.[1] Other holy places in Israel and Palestine were not deemed subject to the Status Quo, because the authorities of one religion or community within a religion are in recognized or effective possession of them.[2]

The status quo stemmed from a firman (decree) of Ottoman sultan Osman III in 1757[3] that preserved the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy places. Further firmans issued in 1852 and 1853 affirmed that no changes could be made without consensus from all six Christian communities;[a][4][5] these firmans received international recognition in Article 9 of the Treaty of Paris (1856).[6] The term status quo was first used in regard to the Holy Places in the Treaty of Berlin (1878).[6]

The 1929 summary prepared by L. G. A. Cust, The Status Quo in the Holy Places, became the standard text on the subject,[7][8] and the details were further formalized in the 1949 United Nations Conciliation Commission after the 1947–1949 Palestine war.

  1. ^ UN Conciliation Commission 1949, p. 7.
  2. ^ UN Conciliation Commission 1949, p. 7a: "As for example the Cenacle which, though a Christian Holy Place, has been in Moslem hands since the middle of the 16th century. The position that Christians do not in effect enjoy the right to hold services there is uncontested."
  3. ^ Dumper, Michael; Stanley, Bruce E., eds. (2007). Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 209. ISBN 9781576079195.
  4. ^ Morio, Eva Maurer. "What does Status Quo stand for?". Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  5. ^ Lancaster, James E. (2015). "The Church and the Ladder: Frozen in Time". CoastDaylight.com. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b Lapîdôt, Rût; Hirsch, Moshe (19 May 1994). The Jerusalem Question and Its Resolution: Selected Documents. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 20. ISBN 0-7923-2893-0.
  7. ^ Breger, Marshall J.; Reiter, Yitzhak; Hammer, Leonard (16 December 2009). Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-135-26812-1.
  8. ^ Lionel George Archer Cust, Abdullah Effendi Kardus (September 26, 1930). "L.G.A. Cust, The Status Quo in the Holy Places (1930)" – via Internet Archive.


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