An Israeli Roman Catholic Church believed by Christians to be the site where Jesus performed one of his most famous miracles reopened Sunday after Jewish extremists vandalized it and attempted to burn it down nearly two years ago, BBC News reported.
The limestone Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes derived its name from a Biblical story in which Jesus was said to have miraculously fed a crowd of 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. The site, located in modern day Tabgha near the Sea of Galilee, has been considered holy for centuries, but the modern church was consecrated in 1983.
In June 2015, several Jewish extremists entered the church and spraypainted slogans such as “false idols will be smashed” before setting fires, causing over $1 million to the sacred site and sending two residents to the hospital for smoke inhalation. A fifth-century mosaic was left undamaged.
Three Israelis were ultimately detained for the attack but have yet to be charged.
The act was condemned by authorities and Jewish leaders with evidence suggesting that the attack was orchestrated by right-wing Jewish extremists targeting non-Jewish religious sites throughout Israel and occupied Palestine. Sunday’s reopening ceremony was attended by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who spoke against religious hatred.
“We stand up for religious freedom because, as a people, we know very well what it means to suffer religious persecution,” Rivlin said.
Christians make up an estimated 2 percent of Israel’s 8 million people. Most Christians there identify as Arab and sympathize with Muslims in opposing portrayals of Israel as a Jewish state, according to the Pew Research Center.
Christian sites of worship have been subject to multiple attacks by Jewish conservative hardliners, drawing criticism from Christian groups against the Israeli government for failing to take adequate action against suspects.
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