Usually, the various Christian denominations represented in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre are known to engage in eternal brotherly strife. That makes it all the more significant that on Sunday, they managed to cast their numerous differences aside to reach an unprecedented decision.

In protest against Israel's alleged "systematic campaign against the churches and the Christian community in the Holy Land", Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, custos of the Holy Land Francesco Patton, and Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manougian ordered the gates of the world's holiest church shut indefinitely.