Can you believe it?

A story from the religion page of The Times of London about the sad state of Christian unity caught my eye.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, recognized as the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, is jointly controlled and maintained by six different Christian groups - Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian - as a result of an agreement under the Ottoman Empire from 1757. Through the years, there have been a number of conflicts between the Christian groups over seemingly small things, like disagreements over brooms and ladders. Interestingly, the keys to the church have been held by a Muslim family since the 12th century because the competing Christian groups do not trust each other to have them.

Now, though, there is a very serious problem facing the groups. On the roof of the Holy Sepulchre is a small monastery that has been an object of contention between the Ethiopians and the Copts since 1970. That is when the Copts left the monastery and went to the church below for prayers and the Ethiopians rushed to the roof and changed the locks to the structure. The need for repairs to the roof where the monastery is located threatens the entire structure. According to engineers who studied the structure, if repairs to the roof are not made, the monastery could crash through the roof. Unfortunately, so far, the competing Christian groups, particularly the Copts and the Ethiopians, refuse to cooperate to make certain the repairs are made.

Is this anyway to show the love and unity preached by Jesus?