An Emergency Involving the Holy Sepulchre And Other Sacred Places in the Holy Land *8 A Statement by the American Committee on Preservation of the Sacred Places in the Holy Land Chairmen Rt. Rev. William T. Manning Rev. Charles S. Macfarland To the Churches and Public of America : There is no spot in the world which is so significant to Christendom and around which cluster so many pre- cious memories as the Holy Land, — Jerusalem, Bethle- hem, Nazareth, Olivet, — the Sacred Places in the life of Jesus Christ our Lord. It was there that was enacted the world's greatest event in the sacrificial death of the world's Saviour. This transcendent fact of history is central in the faith of every branch of the Christian Church. Anything which threatens the proper care of the Sacred Places will therefore challenge the attention and loyalty of Christians throughout the world. These sites in Palestine have been protected, cher- ished and cared for from time immemorial by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which goes back for its inception to the Bishopric of Jerusalem under James, "the Lord's brother." Its faithful guardianship of these places during the centuries of the early church, the Dark Ages, the Crusades, and down to the present time puts the Church Universal under an obligation which Chris- tians should gladly discharge. As a direct result of the World War and the Russian Revolution this ancient historic Church is now facing a crisis which threatens its very existence. The abundant revenues from Russia have been cut off. The streams of pilgrims and their generous gifts have ceased. The fall in the rate of exchange and the impracticability of discontinuing entirely its extensive religious, educational, charitable and medical activities have added to the finan- cial problem of the Patriarchate. Owing to this critical financial situation facing the venerable historic Eastern Church, which is recognized as a branch of the Holy Church throughout the world, an American Committee has been formed for the purpose of enlisting the aid of the Christian people of the United States, of Canada, and elsewhere, in the safeguarding and maintenance of these Sacred Places. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, realizing that the time has come when the younger sister Churches of the West must share with the ancient Eastern Orthodox Church the responsibilities in the Holy Land, has consented to the formation of the American Committee, and welcomes its co-operation. The present committee has been formed to be as nearly representative as practicable of the Christian people in America. It is the intention, as requested by the Patri- archate, to form a permanent American Commission on the Preservation of the Sacred Places in the Holy Land, which shall control the funds raised in this country, using them for the purpose of meeting the existing financial obligations of the Patriarchate. The commission will further co-operate with the Patriarchate in devising new plans for the administration of its business affairs, and also in providing against a recurrence of the present diffi- culties. The permanent American commission will at- tempt, moreover, to unify all the movements whose com- mon purpose is to preserve the Sacred Places of the Holy Land from neglect, exclusion or exploitation. It is under- stood that, with the consent of the Patriarchate, the Commission will endeavor to separate from the general problem of financing the Patriarchate the question of the care of the Holy Places, and that in the oversight of this work representatives of American Churches shall have a share. During the period of the war and thereafter the Patriarchate found it necessary to borrow heavily to carry on its activities, in some instances being obliged to pay interest as high as thirty percent. In the hope that some means might be found for alleviating the situation the British Government, holding the Mandate for Palestine, declared a special moratorium on its obligations, and ap- pointed a commission, whose report has been published and is available. This commission is now working with the Patriarchate in an effort to furnish temporary relief, and any commission of the Western Churches will have the advantage of the help from this British commission. The entire project has the hearty endorsement of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose plenipotentiary representa- tive, Archbishop Panteleimon, is now in this country and is aiding in every way possible the American committee. It is also endorsed by the Rt. Rev. Rennie Maclnness, Bishop of the Anglican Church in Jerusalem. The first and specific task which the American Com- mittee is undertaking is to secure funds from the various church bodies and from individual Christians who recog- nize their obligation to the Patriarchate for its age-old guardianship of these Sacred Places. We feel that an appeal for Two Million Dollars with which to eliminate the present situation created by the War is warranted because of the fact that the Sacred Places may pass out of the custodianship of the Patriarchate which received it from James the Apostle. This custodianship should be protected when necessary by the Churches and Christians of the West, representing Christianity as a whole. On the other hand if relieved of its present obligations the regular income of the Patriarchate which now goes to pay interest, should be sufficient for the proper maintenance of the Sacred Places. For years these places have been the object of envious desire on the part of many. The Patri- archate of Jerusalem has been faithful to its trust. In the day of its adversity it should be helped to pass safely through the crisis. New York, May, 1923. American Committee on Preservation of the Sacred Places in the Holy Land. Rt. Rev. William T. Manning Rev. Charles S. Macfarland Chairman Chairman Mr. George Gordon Battle Rev. S. Parkes Cadman Mr. R. J. Caldwell Mr. Fennell P. Turner Rev. Raymond Calkins Dean Shailer Mathews Bishop James Cannon, Jr. Rev. John A. Marquis Mr. George W. Coleman Rt. Rev. Paul Matthews Rev. S. M. Cavert Rev. William P. Merrill Rt. Rev. Alexander Mann Mr. George Zabriskie Miss Grace Lindley Bishop Luther B. Wilson Rev. Thomas H. MacKenzie Pres. Mary E. Wooley Rev. Charles Wood Dr. Talcott Williams Rev. George A. Barton Rev. William E. Barton Mrs. Fred S. Bennett Rt. Rev. Alexander Mrs. Elizabeth Boies Cotton Rev. Rufus W. Miller Bishop W. F. McDowell Rev. Frederick Lynch Mr. W. W. Bouimistrow Mr. William C. Breed Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick Hon. George W. Wickersham Rt. Rev. William Lawrence Rev. Henry A. Atkinson Rev. H. V. B. Darlington Rev. George R. Montgomery Rev. Lyman E. Davis Mr. Dwight H. Day Rev. James A. Montgomery Dr. Samuel McCune Lindsay Mr. Robert P. Wilder Rev. Stanley White Rev. Finis S. Idleman Rev. Henry S. Huntington Rev. George U. Wenner Rev. William I. Haven Mrs. George M. Clark Rt. Rev. James H. Darlington Bishop E. H. Hughes Rt. Rev. Chas. H. Brent Prof. Stephen P. Duggan Rev. W. C. Emhardt Mr. H. D. W. English Rev. John M. Moore Rev. James I. Vance Rev. Edwin J. van Etten Rev. James E. Freeman Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Gailor Mr. Wm. Fellowes Morgan Rev. Lewis S. Mudge Mr. John S. Newbold Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Garland Mr. Charles H. Strong Rev. Teunis E. Gouwens Rev. Charles E. Burton Rev. F. W. Burnham Dr. John R. Mott Mr. Owen D. Young Dr. Samuel A. Eliot Dr. John H. Finley Rev. Cornelius Woelfkin Mr. John M. Glenn Mr. C. V. Hibbard Mr. William Church Osborn Rev. Ernest M. Stires Metropolitan Platon Rev. George W. Richards Rev. Thomas Burgess Rev. Henry van Dyke Mr. Arthur E. Hungerford Rev. Roy B. Guild Mr. Robert H. Gardiner Rev. William Horace Day Rev. Caleb R. Stetson Prof. Charles H. Boynton Mr. Fred B. Smith Mr. Henry M. Beardsley Pres. James A. Blaisdell Rev. John T. Stone EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Rt. Rev. William T. Manning Rev. Allen R. Bartholomew Rev. Thomas Burgess Rev. W. I. Chamberlain Mrs. Elizabeth Boies Cotton Rev. W. C. Emhardt Rev. Frederick L. Fagley Rev. James H. Franklin Mr. Robert H. Gardiner Mr. C. V. Hibbard Prof. Charles Dr. Charles S. Macfarland Rev. F. H. Knubel Rev. George R. Montgomery Rev. Frank Mason North Rev. W. H. Rawlings Rev. Fred B. Smith Rev. Stanley White Mr. Robert P. Wilder Rev. Herbert L. Willett Dr. Talcott Williams H. Boynton, Sec.