Question: In the opening scenes when Poirot confronts the rabbi, priest, and imam - the priest is Catholic / Western Rite. But from the setting of their dispute in Jerusalem, shouldn't the priest be Orthodox / Eastern Rite?
Question: Why does Poirot constantly laugh as he reads Charles Dickens' works?
Answer: Dickens used satire, irony, and humor as a means to express social criticism and political commentary. His novels were filled with comical characters and colorful dialogue. He used a humorous writing style to expose the Industrial Revolution's harsh and negative impacts like poor education, worker exploitation, social inequality, and other societal ills such as extreme poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism, and so on. Poirot is obviously responding to that.
Answer: Not necessarily. Jerusalem is a meeting place of many religions and faiths - and there's nothing to suggest that the Catholic priest isn't there on holiday.
Except it's stated that priest was negotiating market use (with the imam and rabbi). He was a local.
Brian Katcher