ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PRIEST WALKS AMONG SHAFTS OF LIGHT IN NATIVITY CHURCH, 1999-12-19 (photo)

An orthodox Christian priest passes between hurge marble columns as he walks December 19 among shafts of light pouring into the main nave in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and one of the world's oldest churches. Israel and the Palestinian Authority expect a record three to four million pilgrims and tourists to visit the Holy Land this year to mark the start of Christianity's third millennium. So far this year Israel has expelled some 60 Christian cultists, concerned that a minority of them with messianic delusions might try to trigger violence. JWH/AA