JERUSALEM (AP) – Christians in the Holy Land marked Good Friday without the mass pilgrimages that were usually seen during the days leading up to Holy Week because of the coronavirus, and the faithful in many other predominantly Christian countries where the virus is still present. in fury they observed their second Holy Week feast with strict restrictions on concentrations.
In Jerusalem, many sacred sites were open, thanks to an ambitious Israeli vaccination campaign. It was a stark contrast to last year, when the city was closed. In neighboring Lebanon, Christians watched Good Friday under lock and key and suffered a severe economic crisis.
In Latin America, penitents from Mexico and Guatemala in Paraguay carried thorn-covered tree branches and large crosses to Passion Plays depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At the Vatican, Pope Francis presided over the torchlight ceremony of the Way of the Cross in St. Peter’s Square, renouncing for the second year the traditional procession of the Colosseum that attracts thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans.
Worshipers in the Philippines and France marked a second annual Easter under movement restrictions amid outbreaks caused by more contagious strains. In the United States, officials urged Christians to celebrate outdoors, while distancing themselves socially or in virtual ceremonies.
In the Old City of Jerusalem, Franciscan friars in brown robes led hundreds of faithful down the Via Dolorosa, traversing what tradition holds to be the final steps of Jesus, while reciting prayers through loudspeakers in the stations of the Cross. Another group carried a large wooden cross, singing hymns and pausing to offer prayers.
Religious sites were open to a limited number of worshipers. The church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose again, was open to visitors with masks and social distances.
Despite one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world, air travel to and from Israel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away foreign pilgrims who often crowd Jerusalem during Holy Week. In recent years, tens of thousands of pilgrims would descend to the sacred places of the city.
“Every year we encourage people to go out. Last year we told people to stay home, ”said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land. “This year we are silent in some way.”
“We have to pray for those who can’t be here,” said Alejandro Gonzalez, a Mexican living in Israel. “Those of us who can be here have a responsibility to keep them in mind and follow this path of the cross that is also happening.”
In Lebanon, Christians watched Good Friday amid a severe economic crisis exacerbated by the massive explosion that toppled parts of the capital last year. Even traditional Easter sweets are a luxury few can afford.
“People don’t even talk about the party,” says Majida Al Asaily, owner of a candy store in Beirut. “We haven’t witnessed anything like this this year, despite the war and other hardships we had faced before.”
At the Vatican, candles were placed that flickered in a circle around the central obelisk in St. Peter’s Square and along a path that led to steps outside St. Peter’s Basilica. There, Francis sat under a canopy in the dark for a warm night, listening to the children read meditations composed by other children recounting painful episodes of their lives.
One child wrote about the loneliness of the COVID-19 pandemic because he was unable to visit grandparents to keep them safe from infection and missing classmates and teachers since schools in Italy have been closed for long periods due to of the closure. Another wrote about the death of COVID-19’s grandfather without family members in a hospital.
At one point, Francis prayed that God would give people His hope so that “we can recognize you even in the darkest moments of our lives.”
Anti-pandemic measures have devastated tourism in Italy and greatly reduced religious pilgrimages. Only a few hundred participants were allowed to attend, including the prelates.
In the U.S., faithful of all denominations were urged to respect COVID-related capacity restrictions in places of worship, to observe online services, and to take precautions against the use of masks and social distancing in ceremonies. the outdoors.
The Congregation of the First Baptist Church in Medford, Wisconsin, offered elegant, discreet, and socially distant covered services that were broadcast live.
George Myers, pastor of student ministries, focused his attention on the last thing Jesus said on the cross, “It is over.” Myers said those words were not about his death, but about the completion of the work they sent him to do.
“So FBC, don’t miss this. This is the time when Jesus undoes the curse of sin and death, “Myers assured his congregants.
At St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Denver, masked celebrants performed an elaborate outdoor recreation of the cross stations with Roman soldiers on horseback and curious spectators wearing fake leather whips on a convict. Jesus Christ carrying a cross. Police officers escorted the entourage through the neighborhood while church workers handed out facial masks to those who did not wear them among the crowd of onlookers.
In New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan presided over a celebration of the Lord’s Passion at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, attended by clergy and faithful disguised in masks. That service, an evening ceremony of the stations of the cross, and a reflection on the passion and death of Christ were broadcast on the Catholic channel on Sirius XM and broadcast live on the YouTube channel and the cathedral website.
“We may be separated by distance, but we are united in faith,” the archdiocese said in its invitation to the celebrations of Holy Week.
In France, a national curfew at seven in the afternoon forced parishes to bring forward Good Friday ceremonies during the day, traditional Catholic night processions drastically reduced or canceled. Nineteen departments in France have localized closures, where parishioners can attend daytime mass if they sign the government’s “travel certificate”.
Notre Dame, devastated by the fire, did not celebrate any Good Friday Mass this year, but the cathedral’s “Crown of Thorns” was being revered by the cathedral clergy at its new temporary liturgical center in the church of Saint -Germain-l’Auxerrois.
In Spain, there were no traditional processions for the second year in a row. Churches limited the number of worshipers. Many parishes connected to the Internet with masses and prayers through video streaming services.
In the Philippines, the streets were tremendously quiet and religious gatherings were banned in the capital, Manila, and in four outlying provinces. This week, the government placed this bustling region of more than 25 million people on the verge of closing while containing an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases.
The Philippines had begun to open in hopes of reviving its troubled economy, but infections rose last month, apparently due to more contagious strains, increased public mobility and complacency.
In Kenya, all churches were ordered to close as part of a ban on large gatherings to contain a worsening outbreak. Joseph Karinga went to his church anyway and prayed outside the closed doors, in a garden near a shrine of Mary.
“I’ll just say my rosary here and come home,” he said.
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D’Emilio reported from Rome. Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Thomas Adamson in Leeds, England, Aritz Parra in Madrid, David Zalubowski in Denver and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines collaborated.