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.
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SANCTUARY TICKETS
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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,
Roman Catholic Church and
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.
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
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
right in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
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.
[1] From 1983 to 2003 Canada experienced 36 sanctuary incidents.
[2] The "New Sanctuary Movement" organization estimates that at least 600,000
people in the United States have at least one family member in danger of deportation.
[3]
Animal Sancturay 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:
(1) 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;
(2) Does not commercially trade in prohibited wildlife species, including offspring, parts, and products;
(3) Does not propagate any of the prohibited wildlife species; and
(4) 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.
[4]
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
- Elvira Arellano
- La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles
- Shrine