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AMMONNEWS - His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein has issued a Royal Benefaction (makruma) to provide for the restoration of Jesus’ Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem at His Majesty’s personal expense.

The Royal Hashemite Court informed the Jerusalem Patriarchate of His Majesty’s wishes by a letter sent to His Beatitude Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine and Jordan.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III commended the generosity of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

The Patriarch said that His Majesty has always been, and shall remain, the faithful guardian and Custodian of the Christian and Muslim Holy Sites in Jerusalem. His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III also said that HM King Abdullah embodies in deed, and not only in word, the shared living of Muslims and Christians all over the world and particularly in the Holy Land.

His Beatitude emphasized that the Royal Hashemite Family has always had a unique historic role in the preservation of both Christian and Muslim Holy Sites in Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories. Patriarch Theophilos also said that this continuing Jordanian Hashemite patronage has been an indelible source of support for all the churches in the Holy Land, and all the Christians in the East.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III further added that Jordan’s role in protecting Christian existence in the Holy Land is clear and undeniable. King Abdullah spearheads the efforts of all Jordanians to sow the seeds of love and brotherhood between Muslims and Christians, the Patriarch said. We are reaping the fruits of these efforts in this age when sectarian wars are burning entire countries as can clearly be seen, the Patriarch added.

His Beatitude stressed that King Abdullah presents the Palestinian cause as a top priority in all the international assemblies that His Majesty attends. He added that His Majesty constantly reiterates that Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites are a red line which Jordan will not permit to be crossed.

Also, that Jordan continues to uphold its religious and historic responsibilities toward the entirety of Al-Haram Al-Sharif with the utmost commitment and seriousness. His Beatitude said that this royal benefaction (makruma) is just more proof of His Majesty King Abdullah’s commitment, in word and in deed, to the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, as has always been the case with the Hashemites and the Jordanian people.

Patriarch Theophilos III said: Our churches will continue to pray for the peace and security of Jordan, its army, its security agencies, its people, and its leader who justly and honestly continues the Pact of Omar. The Pact of Omar was instituted by the Prophet Muhammad’s PBUH second successor, the Caliph Omar ibn Al-Khattab. Through this pact, the Christians of the Holy Land lived without fear for their lives, the lives of their families and their property.

It is to be noted that His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III signed a historical agreement with the President of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in March of 2016. The agreement was for the project to restore Jesus’ Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in cooperation with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Franciscan Missionaries Serving the Holy Land.

The agreement followed a study that was undertaken by specialists at NTUA and presented to a number of Christian religious leaders, the Jordanian Ambassador to Athens, and Palestinian and Greek officials.