The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem closed its doors for  the first time in recent 100 years in protest against changes in the  tax lragulations  of Israel.

ArmInfo. The Church of the Holly Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the main Christian shrine, closed its doors on Sunday to protest changes in Israel's tax laws and a new law  that could allow the state to seize land from the church.

Leaders of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic  Churches announced the closure of the church in a joint statement.

The statement was published after the press conference, within the  participation of  the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus III, the  custodian of the Holy Land from the Catholic Church Francesco Patton  and the Jerusalem Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church Nurkhan  Manukyan. 

According to the statement, the decision was taken in protest against  the discriminatory and racist bill, which is now being considered by  the Israeli government. "This disgusting bill, if approved, will  allow the expropriation of the church lands, which reminds us of all  similar laws that were applied against the Jews in the European Dark  Ages," the hierarchs said in a statement.

After the protest of the hierarchs, the profile committee of the  Israeli government postponed consideration of the draft law for a  week.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is considered one of the most sacred  places in the world for Christians.  The church today is divided  between several Christian denominations: mainly Greek-Orthodox,  Catholic and Armenian, and to a lesser extent - Coptic, Syrian and  Ethiopian. Many believers believe that in the place where she is, she  died martyrdom, was buried and then Jesus Christ was resurrected.  Every year, the temple is visited by hundreds of thousands of  pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. This is the first case  since 1900, when the temple doors were closed for political reasons.