Site of Jesus\'s Baptism to get church

Jordan River Baptismal Site Amman - Norma Neamat  A statement by Church Heads in Jordan was released on Wednesday stating that the Baptism site acknowledged as the place of Jesus Christ’s Baptism is located east of the river Jordan. The statement was released after a the Jordanian Minister of Interior invited Church representatives in Jordan to a meeting with a number of ministers and MPs last Saturday, to look into the reports news agencies have been circulating about setting up a Baptism site on the west side of the Jordan River -directly opposite the eastern site, carrying the name of “Church of Judas;” which has been described as the Baptism site of Christ.  
The statement said that the pilgrimage of Christians is significantly associated with the Bible which asserts that Anglican events to do with Christ’s public life began with inviting John the Baptist for repentance in the Jordan River area, as people from all cities and surrounding villages went there as an expression of their repentance and return to God. The Gospel of Matthew (5/6-3) mentioned that Jesus Christ was adopted by John the Baptist, as Luke said: “John was baptized in Jordan” (Luke 1/9)
According to the tradition of the Prophet’s era, John was baptized in Jordan at the place where the Roman road coming from Jerusalem meets the river. John the Evangelist says that Bethania across Jordan was the center of the pastoral activity of John the Baptist, and the scene of the first day of the life of Jesus in public, where Jesus met five of his disciples. This is confirmed in (Luke 1/28) where it says: “this took place in Bethania across Jordan where John was baptized.”  
The statement said that Christians of the holy land, the heirs of the Christian faith, have kept the memory of the prophets and maintained the holy places. The most important places that were visited on the western side of the river on pilgrimage back then were Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, and on the east side of the river were the Baptism site of Christ and Bethania and the place where prophet Elijah rose up to heaven in the storm. We are able to know where different events took place on the western and eastern sides of the river due to the testimonies available such as that of Origen in the mid-third century; many testimonies followed in the subsequent centuries.  
In addition, the statement said that on September 10th 1997, the late King Hussein of Jordan issued a decree, ordering the establishment of the Royal Commission for the development of the baptism of Jesus after which the amazing relics described by the pilgrims in the 3rd century were discovered; which prove that churches and monasteries were built, after an era of persecution, on the eastern side of the river to revive the memory of where Christ was baptized.  
Church heads in Jordan said that they are proud and honored to be from a holy land where Jesus was baptized and would like to take the opportunity to “sincerely thank the King of Jordan for his interest in holy Christians places and we owe him special thanks for appointing special locations where Christ was baptized to build churches and related-institutes in order to service those who have come from all over the world for pilgrimage.  
The statement was concluded by saying: “there is no doubt and it is evident that Christ was baptized on the eastern side of the river as supported by what is written in the bible and according to very early Christian traditions, in addition to the many testimonies written by pilgrims towards the end of the 2nd century.”