NORMALLY, a leaking church roof merits little more than a mention in a parish newsletter and a local charity baking sale.
If, however, the church happens to be the reputed birthplace of
Jesus Christ, and is run by mutually suspicious sects who occasionally
come to blows over who gets to sweep up after Mass, any large-scale
renovations can prove a little more tricky.
In its long history, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has been burnt down in a Samaritan revolt, over-run by Persian conquerors, used to crown the first crusader king of Jerusalem and, more recently, besieged by Israeli troops after hundreds of Palestinian militants sought sanctuary there.
What it has never had, however, is a full restoration - and with water leaking on to ancient frescoes and mosaics and the heads of monks and pilgrims, the authorities decided it was time for it to have its first comprehensive overhaul in more than 1,500 years.
Under a 19th-century "status quo" agreement arranged by the Ottoman
empire, responsibility for the upkeep of the structure was split
between the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches.
However, the sects frequently squabble over such mundane issues as cleaning duties; in 2007, the monks went at each other using fists and broomsticks, forcing Palestinian riot police to deploy inside the 6th-century basilica.
Such is the flashpoint nature of the church - founded by the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, in AD326, over the cave where Jesus is said to have been born - that when a thief purloined the silver star marking the Messiah's birthplace in 1847, an international row erupted that eventually resulted in the Crimean War seven years later.
Two years ago the World Monuments Fund added the decaying, fortress-like church to its list of the world's 100 most endangered historical sites. "Many roof timbers are rotting, and have not been replaced since the 19th century," it said.
"The rainwater that seeps into the building accelerates the rotting of the wood and damages the structural integrity of the building, and the 12th-century wall mosaics and paintings.
There is an ever-present chance of an electrical fire. If another earthquake were to occur on the scale of the one of 1834, the result would most likely be catastrophic."
The organisation called on the three custodian organisations "to work together, which has not happened for hundreds of years.
The Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority would also have to work together to protect it".
In the end, the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, visited the church and asked the Greeks, Roman Catholics and Armenians to co-operate.
"They said after a few weeks it was impossible, so I said, for the sake of the church, the President will issue a decree," said Ziad Bandak, the head of the Palestinian Authority's antiquities department.
The Palestinian Authority - whose leaders are largely secular Muslims - has hired experts from Italy, Canada and the Palestinian territories to assess the amount of work to be done, at a cost of $US300,000.
The restoration itself could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, said Mr Bandak.
SIC: TA/AUS