The marble slab on which it is believed that Jesus lay after his Crucifixion is being studied as part of a $4 million restoration project at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
According to the National Geographic, a partner in the project, the tomb, situated inside the Edicule in the Old City, has been exposed for the first time in centuries so that a team of specialists from the National Technical University in Athens can continue their work.
Archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert told the magazine: “The marble covering of the tomb has been pulled back and we were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it.
“It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid.’
The restoration project, involving about 50 experts, began earlier this year after funding was secured from donors including King Abdullah of Jordan and Mica Ertegun, the widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. The Christian denominations that jointly run the church also committed funds. The project is due to be completed next spring.
The team has been working mainly at night in order to allow pilgrims continued access to the shrine. The World Monuments Fund is overseeing the restoration.
Antonia Moropoulou, the team’s chief scientific supervisor, said the removal of the 3ft by 5ft marble slab was a “critical moment” in the restoration of the Edicule, and that their work would “enable the world to study our findings as if they themselves were in the tomb of Christ.”
Sulpicians to withdraw from San Francisco seminary
After 118 years, the Sulpicians, who have taught and administered at St Patrick’s Seminary and University in the San Francisco Archdiocese, will withdraw from the seminary at the end of this academic year.The abrupt announcement on October 21 by the community’s American provincial, Fr John C Kemper, severs a relationship with the Society of St Sulpice that began with the Menlo Park seminary’s founding in 1898.
The Sulpicians are a society of apostolic life, composed of diocesan priests who serve as educators of seminarians and priests. Six Sulpicians teach and work as administrators at St Patrick’s: they include the rector-president, the vice rector and the dean of spirituality.
The province owns and operates St Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore; administers the Theological College in Washington, which is associated with the Catholic University of America; and contributes staff to the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s Assumption Seminary.
Informed that they are no longer to provide Sulpician administrative leadership to St Patrick’s, the Sulpicians said: “As a consequence, we will not be able to serve the seminary according to the Sulpician tradition.”
Trump woos Catholic voters
Donald Trump has reached out to Catholic voters in a 15-minute interview with EWTN, the largest Catholic news network in the world.Mr Trump spoke about his pro-life position, his concerns about religious liberty, and said Hillary Clinton should “do more than apologise” for senior Democrats’ remarks about Catholicism in leaked emails.
Asked about allegations that he groped women, Mr Trump said the stories were “all made up” and “locker-room talk”.
