A Cross Station without pilgrims, but very crowded today, filled the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, which had remained almost deserted since the beginning of the pandemic and which experienced a new atypical Good Friday, although with a taste of pre-coronavirus normalcy.
Several hundred people gathered in the citadel, mostly local Palestinian believers, religious from Catholic communities in the Holy Land and international residents in the region.
Together they followed in the footsteps of Jesus’ Calvary, from the Church of the Flagellation, which marks the place where Christ was condemned, to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, where tradition indicates that he was crucified, died, and was buried.
The procession was led by a group of Franciscans, followed by hundreds of believers who stopped at each of the fourteen stations on Via Dolorosa, where they prayed in Italian, English and Spanish.
Behind them also advanced a large group of Palestinian believers, who were praying in Arabic and carrying the two large wooden crosses.
Throughout the tour they were accompanied by dozens of Israeli border guards, who facilitated their movement with several fences on the alleys of the Old City, located in the eastern part of Jerusalem, under Israeli occupation and annexation.
Behind these fences gathered Muslim residents of the city and dozens of Israeli tourists, who took advantage of the Passover (Easter) holiday to visit the Holy City and observe the ceremony, and who joined the local Palestinian traders, unusual with the crowds after. a year in which they suffered like few others from the absence of tourists.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel has vetoed the entry of tourists to avoid contagion, which has once again deprived Jerusalem of the thousands of pilgrims who arrive each year for this date.
Despite this, the rapid Israeli vaccination campaign, which has already reached more than 50% of the population and has allowed the economy to reopen almost completely, explains today’s high flow, which contrasts with the gray ceremony of the year. four Franciscans took the tour.
“I am extremely grateful to God for allowing me to be here in Jerusalem today, living another year of Christ’s passion,” Angela, a Colombian living in Tel Aviv, told Efe.
“It is important, since after this terrible pandemic the world had to live, to be able to live a more spiritual moment, to approach Him and, through this passion, to ask Him to enlighten us and help us to get out of global pandemic, “he added.
Those unable to attend this time were many Palestinian Christians from the occupied West Bank and the blocked Gaza Strip, following a reduction in the number of permits granted by Israel due to the pandemic, which has seen increases in infections in both weeks. territories.
Unlike previous years, when hundreds of Gazans and tens of thousands of West Bank residents gathered in the Holy City to celebrate Easter, this time there were no Christians from the coastal enclave and only 5,000 Palestinians joined. . at the local community holidays.
“It is true that this holy week is special, because there are no pilgrims, because there is nothing, but the local Christians, the continuators of Jesus’ time in this Holy Land, are the ones who support our faith,” said Manolo Lama, 60. for years, a native of Seville and a resident of the West Bank city of Beit Sahur.
Liturgies will continue tonight in Jerusalem, including the funeral ceremony of Christ in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, before the ceremonies on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.