in his christmas sermon of 634, sophronius was more concerned with keeping the clergy in line with the chalcedonian view of god, giving only the most conventional of warnings of the saracen advance on palestine, commenting that the saracens already controlled bethlehem. sophronius, who viewed the saracen control of palestine as "unwitting representatives of god's inevitable chastisement of weak and wavering christians", died soon after the fall of jerusalem to the caliph umar i in 637, but not before he had negotiated the recognition of civil and religious liberty for christians in exchange for tribute - an agreement known as umari treaty. the caliph himself came to jerusalem, and met with the patriarch at the church of the holy sepulchre. sophronius invited umar to pray there, but umar declined, fearing to endanger the church's status as a christian temple.