Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is
the consecrated area of a church or temple around its
tabernacle or altar. An
animal sanctuary is a place where animals
live and are protected. In modern parlance the term is used to mean
a place of safety.
Sanctuary as a sacred place
In Europe, Christian churches were sometimes built on land
considered as a particularly 'holy spot', perhaps where a miracle
or martyrdom had taken place or where a holy person was buried.
Examples
are St. Peter's
Basilica
in Rome and St. Albans Cathedral
in England, which commemorate the martyrdom of
Saint Peter (the first Pope, according
to Catholics) and Saint Alban (the first
Christian martyr in Britain), respectively. The place, and
therefore the church built there, was considered to have been
sanctified (made holy) by what happened there. In modern times, the
Roman Catholic Church has continued this practice by placing in the
altar of each church, when it is consecrated for use, a box (the
sepulcrum) containing relics of a saint. The relics box is
removed when the church is taken out of use as a church. In the
Eastern Orthodox Church, the
antimension on the altar serves a
similar function. It is a cloth
icon of
Christ's body taken down from the cross, and typically has the
relics of a saint sewn into it. In addition, it is signed by the
parish's
bishop, and represents his
authorization and blessing for the
Eucharist to be celebrated on that altar.
The altar
The area around the altar was also considered holy because of the
physical presence of
God in the
Eucharist, both during the Mass and in the
tabernacle on the altar the rest of the time. So that people could
tell when
Jesus was there (in the tabernacle),
the "
sanctuary lamp" would be lit,
indicating that anyone approaching the altar should
[[Genuflection|genuflect]] (bow by bending the knee and inclining
the head), to show respect for Him. In the
Eastern Orthodox Church,
Eastern Catholic Churches of
Byzantine rite and
Coptic Orthodox Churches, the
sanctuary is separated from the
nave (where the
people pray) by an
iconostasis,
literally a wall of
icons, with three doors in
it. In other
Oriental Orthodox
traditions, a sanctuary curtain is used. In most
Protestant churches, the term
sanctuary
denotes the entire worship area while the term
chancel is used to refer to the area around the
altar-table. In many traditions, such as the
Anglican Church, the
Lutheran Church, the
Roman Catholic Church and the
United Methodist Church,
altar rails sometimes mark the edge of the
sanctuary or chancel.
The area around the altar came to be called the "sanctuary," and
that terminology does not apply to Christian churches alone:
King Solomon's temple, built in about
950 BC, had a sanctuary ("
Holy of
Holies") where the tabernacle ("
Ark of the Covenant") was, and the term
applies to the corresponding part of any house of worship. In most
modern
synagogues, the main room for
prayer is known as the sanctuary, to contrast it with smaller rooms
dedicated to various other services and functions. (There is a
raised
bimah in the sanctuary, from which
services are conducted, which is where the
ark holding the
Torah
may reside; some synagogues, however, have a separate bimah and
ark-platform.)
The
tabernacle (dwelling place of God) within the temple in the history
of Israel
corresponds
into today as the dwelling place Christians create within their
hearts for God. They believe that since Jesus Christ came
and died on the cross, ripping the curtain of the temple (Mark
15:37-39, NIV) the dwelling of God no longer dwelt within the
tabernacle alone, but rather within man who accepted Christ's
sacrifice.
Sanctuary in medieval law
The Church as a Place of Refuge
Sanctuary was also a right to be safe from arrest
in the sanctuary of a church or temple, recognized by English law
from the fourth to the seventeenth century.
Right of asylum
Many ancient peoples recognized a religious "right of asylum",
protecting criminals (or those accused of crime) from legal action
to some extent. This principle was adopted by the early Christian
church, and various rules developed for what the person had to do
to qualify for protection and just how much protection it
was.
In England, King
Ethelbert made
the first laws regulating sanctuary in about AD 600. By Norman
times, there had come to be two kinds of sanctuary: All churches
had the lower-level kind, but only the churches the king licensed
had the broader version. The medieval system of asylum was finally
abolished entirely in England by
James I in 1623.
Relating to political asylum
During the
Wars of the Roses, when
the Yorkists or Lancastrians would suddenly get the upper hand by
winning a battle, some adherents of the losing side might find
themselves surrounded by adherents of the other side and not able
to get back to their own side, so they would rush to sanctuary at
the nearest church until it was safe to come out. A prime example
is Queen
Elizabeth Woodville,
consort of
Edward IV of
England.
In 1470, when the Lancastrians briefly restored
Henry VI to the throne, Edward's queen
was living in London with several young daughters.
She moved with them
into Westminster
for sanctuary, living there in royal comfort until
Edward was restored to the throne in 1471 and giving birth to their
first son Edward during that
time. When King Edward died in 1483, Elizabeth (who was
highly unpopular with even the Yorkists and probably did need
protection) took her five daughters and youngest son (Richard, Duke
of York; Prince Edward had his own household by then) and again
moved into sanctuary at Westminster. She had all the comforts of
home; she brought so much furniture and so many chests that the
workmen had to knock holes in some of the walls to get everything
in fast enough to suit her.
Sanctuary movement in modern times
Sanctuary of refugees from Central American civil wars was a
movement in the 1980s. Part of a broader anti-war movement
positioned against U.S. foreign policy in Central America, by 1987
440 sites in the United States had been declared "
sanctuary cities" open to migrants from this
civil wars in the Central America region.
Sanctuary of immigrants: These sites included university campuses
and cities. From the 1980s continuing into the 2000s, there also
have been instances of churches providing "sanctuary" for short
periods to migrants facing deportation in Germany, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, the United States,
and Canada, among other nations. In 2007, Iranian refugee Shahla
Valadi was granted asylum in Norway after spending seven years in
church sanctuary after the initial denial of asylum. Norwegian
authorities will not, as a rule, enter churches to deport illegal
immigrants. From 1983 to 2003 Canada experienced 36 sanctuary
incidents. The "New Sanctuary Movement" organization estimates that
at least 600,000people in the United States have at least one
family member in danger of deportation.
Animal Sanctuary movement
The role of animal sanctuaries is to provide a permanent home where
the animals are not 'exploited', used in ways contrary to their
nature, taken out of their environment for shows, bred for life in
captivity nor used for photo or pay to play schemes. In 2008 the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service followed the Captive Wildlife Safety
Act and defined sanctuaries as: The CWSA specifically states that
an accredited sanctuary must be tax-exempt, it must not
commercially trade in the prohibited wildlife species, and it must
not breed the prohibited wildlife species. Our definition of
"propagate" clearly addresses that restriction. Our monitoring of
these sanctuaries is accomplished through the requirement that
accredited wildlife sanctuaries must maintain complete and accurate
records of any possession, transportation, acquisition,
disposition, importation, or exportation of the prohibited wildlife
species and that these records must be accessible to Service
officials for inspection upon request, at reasonable hours. We
considered options for developing some type of formal accreditation
mechanism for wildlife sanctuaries, but concluded for a number of
reasons that such a step was not practical.
The CWSA itself sets specific criteria that must be met for a
sanctuary to qualify as "accredited."
We have decided that if a sanctuary meets these four criteria, it
will qualify as accredited and be exempt from CWSA
prohibitions.
Other sanctuaries that do not meet these criteria will continue to
be able to possess big cats but will not be able to import, export
or transport them in interstate or foreign commerce.
In the proposed rule (71 FR 5041), January 31, 2006, we stated that
placing male and female big cats in the same cage for any period of
time may result in breeding and is considered propagation; however,
we recognize that sterilization will prevent propagation and that
proof of that sterilization should assist a sanctuary in qualifying
as "accredited."
We will only consider a wildlife sanctuary to be exempt from the
prohibitions of the CWSA if it meets the four criteria for
accredited wildlife sanctuaries provided in the CWSA.
Accredited wildlife sanctuary means a facility that cares for live
specimens of one or more of the prohibited wildlife species and:
- Is approved by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a
corporation that is exempt from taxation under § 501(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which is described in §§ 501(c)(3)
and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that code;
- Does not commercially trade in prohibited wildlife species,
including offspring, parts, and products;
- Does not propagate any of the prohibited wildlife species;
and
- Does not allow any direct contact between the public and the
prohibited wildlife species.
We are requiring accredited wildlife sanctuaries to maintain
complete and accurate records of any possession, transportation,
sale, acquisition, purchase, barter, disposition, importation, or
exportation of the prohibited wildlife species.The ultimate goal of
sanctuaries is to end the need for their existence by advocating
for more compassionate attitudes toward animals and for more
protective laws that would end the root causes of so much abuse,
exploitation and abandonment of wild animals as props, pets and
parts.
See also
External links
References
- Iranian given asylum in Norway: World: News:
News24
- See Randy K. Lippert (2005). Sanctuary,
Sovereignty, Sacrifice: Canadian Sanctuary Incidents, Power and
Law. ISBN 0-7748-1249-4
- "Elvira Arellano Arrested Outside Downtown Church: Chicago
Immigration Activist Taken Into Custody Sunday Afternoon"
http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_231191810.html
- Big Cat Rescue
- J. Charles Cox (1911). The Sanctuaries and Sanctuary
Seekers of Medieval England.
- John Bellamy (1973). Crime and Public Order in England in
the Later Middle Ages.
- Richard Kaeuper (1982). "Right of asylum". Dictionary of
the Middle Ages. v.1 pp.632-633. ISBN 0-684-16760-3
==
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