The Israeli bank account of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem has been seized because of unpaid water bills, an Israeli newspaper has reported.

Hagihon, an independent corporation established by the municipality of Jerusalem, imposed the seizure 10 days ago over a $2.5 million debt accumulated at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is under the church’s stewardship, according to Maariv’s report on the matter on Friday.

Theophilos III, the Greek church’s patriarch, is planning to write to U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders to protest the seizure, the report said.

The municipality of Jerusalem has traditionally waived payment on water by the church out of recognition of its immense significance to countless of Christians all over the world and the tourist traffic it brings, the report by investigative journalist Kalman Liebskind said.

The first demand for payment came in 2004 and was ignored by the church authorities. Negotiations reached a deadlock, and Hagihon filed for repossession of the church’s assets.

The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, which is headquartered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, has been unable to pay salaries to its clergymen and utilities because of the freeze, the report said.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is said to contain the place where Jesus was buried.

Source: Jewish News Agency

My comment:

It must be said that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not a Christian Church, but a Catholic Shrine. It was established by the Pope when he occupied Jerusalem.

Among other disputes in regards to the historical claims of the papacy, many baptists and Pentecostal’s do claim that Jesus was buried in a tomb just outside the gates of the Old city of Jerusalem.

Who would believe that religious institutions would refuse to pay the municipality bills?

This is bad fruits, and such testimonies are unwanted.

 Matthew 7:18
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

False Christianity has always given Jesus the Messiah a bad name. This is yet another example.  That a religious community fails to pay the water bills since 2004 is shameful and improper behavior.

Ordinary people would have been evicted from their properties, if they fail to pay rent or taxes.

I pray that no Jew in Israel is being fooled into believing that anti-Christian Roman Catholic and Orthodox priests has anything to do with the true Messiah.

Written by Ivar