EVEN SAPIR, Israel (AP) - A bearded monk in a black robe prayed beneath a tree Monday, next to a wooden cross, a few small icons and an oil lamp - belongings he collected before being evicted from a disputed monastery.
Israeli court officials broke down the door of the St. John of the Desert monastery on Sunday, enforcing an order to evict six Melkite monks and return the site to its owners, the Franciscans.
Father Moses, removed from the monastery west of Jerusalem that his Melkite sect leased in 1978, curled up beneath the tree Monday and watched workers from the Franciscan order come and go, opening and closing the monastery gates behind them.
The monastery was built by the Franciscans in 1922 on a hillside of trees and wildflowers where Christians believe John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus, lived in solitude in a cave.
The Melkite monks, members of a Greek Catholic denomination loyal to the Pope, leased the monastery from the Franciscan order in 1978. They prayed, raised honey bees, made wood carvings and silver crosses and painted icons at the secluded monastery.
The Franciscans filed suit in 1994, noting that the lease had expired and was not renewed. An Israeli court ruled that the site belonged to the Franciscans, and the monks were ordered to leave by Wednesday. Six monks locked themselves inside.
``They (court officials) used an electric saw on a Sunday to destroy the door of a church, coming in yelling, insulting, blaspheming,'' said Father Elisha, who had stayed outside.
The Melkite monks said the matter should have been brought before the Vatican rather than an Israeli court. Their lawyer complained that court officials broke a law protecting holy sites.
``This is a violation of a holy place,'' said Yossi Schwartz. ``It's a church, a place of prayer. It's a systemic violation of the commitment of the Israeli state that told the world that Israel would not violate religious places.''
The evicted monks, who plan to go to the Melkite Patriarchate in Jerusalem's Old City, said leaving the monastery is difficult.
``My own monastic vocation is linked to this place, the place where I feel the call to follow this life. It is this place,'' said Father Elisha. ``But being monks, we are supposed to have a poor life and not be attached to any earthly belongings and, well, we have to look ahead.''
``I hope they will leave in good will,'' said Abdel Masih, administrator of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.