Viri Galilaei Church

The Viri Galilaei Church (Greek: ἄνδρες Γαλιλαῖοι) is a Greek Orthodox church[1] located at the northern peak of the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. It is part of the Monastery of Little Galilee on the Mount of Olives, which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and serves as the private residence of the Patriarch.[2]

Viri Galilaei Church
ἄνδρες Γαλιλαῖοι
LocationEast Jerusalem
CountryIsrael/State of Palestine West Bank
DenominationGreek Orthodox Church
Bell Tower

Its name is in Latin and means "Men of Galilee". It is taken from Acts 1:11, where two white-dressed men are addressing the apostles after the Ascension of Jesus: "Men of Galilee,....why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."[3] The association of this particular site with the biblical episode is based on a medieval tradition, labelled by Thomas Cook as "worthless".[4]

It is in this place that the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI, head of the Catholic Church and the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, was held in 1964, marking an important step in the ecumenical reconciliation attempt between the two denominations.

Location

The church is at the northern summit of the Mount of Olives (810 meters), not far from the southern peak where the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension and the nearby Chapel of the Ascension are located, and a little southwest of the German Lutheran church of the same name, which is part of the Augusta Victoria compound.[5]

Description

To the right and to the left of the door are two pillars on which the inscription in Greek can be read (ΟΙ ΕΝΔΕΜΑΘΗΤΑΙ ΜΑΘΗΤΑΙ ΕΥΘΗΕΑΝΣΑΝ ΕΙΣ ΓΑΛΙΛΑΙΑΝ ΓΑΛΙΛΑΙΑΝ), from Matthew 28:16: "the eleven disciples return to Galilee".

Current status

After the 1967 Six-Day War and the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, this church has remain intact. Israel's 1980 unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem was condemned as a violation of international law and was declared null and void by the United Nations Security Council in UNSC Resolution 478.

See also

References
  1. "Viri Galilaei Church". Seetheholyland.net. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  2. "Website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem". Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  3. Church of the Ascension: Three other Ascension sites, on Seetheholyland.net
  4. Thomas Cook (1907). Cook's Tourists' Handbook to Palestine and Syria. Thomas Cook & Son. ISBN 9785876952431.
  5. Ernest William Gurney (E.W.G.) Masterman, pre-WWI article about the Mount of Olives

31.7823°N 35.2449°E / 31.7823; 35.2449

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