Jerusalem patriarch questions charge for Christmas broadcasters

Published: 2003-12-22

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem questioned the decision by the Palestinian Broadcast Authority to charge for broadcasting rights from Manger Square in Bethlehem during Christmas. Patriarch Sabbah said at a Dec. 22 press conference in which he read his Christmas message that he would contact officials at the authority and ask them to clarify their position. According to media reports, television networks were told that fees of several thousand dollars would be charged for Christmas broadcasts from Manger Square on all three dates on which Christmas is celebrated: Dec. 24-25 for Catholics and Protestants, Jan. 6 for the Orthodox churches and Jan. 18 for the Armenian Church. In past years the authority charged a fee for rights for exclusive video broadcast of Christmas Eve Mass from within the Church of the Nativity, but this year it is adding fees for broadcasting outside the church. Print journalists and still photographers will not be charged.

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