Jerusalem, Feb 27, 2018 / 16:16 pm
Christian leaders are re-opening the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the city backtracked on proposals seen as targeting Christianity in the region.
On Sunday, Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian church leaders jointly decided to close the sacred site indefinitely, protesting two controversial proposals in the city.
The proposals would have allowed the government to claim land that was sold by Churches to private organizations in recent years, and would have also removed tax exemptions from Church-owned properties that did not contain houses of worship, such as schools, hospitals, and social outreach centers.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel intervened in the dispute and worked with Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat, to "formulate a solution to the issue of municipal taxes on buildings belonging to the churches that are not houses of worship," according to the Washington Post.