BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) – Bethlehem inaugurated a merry flow of troops and the triumphant arrival of the Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land on Christmas Eve on Thursday, but few people were there to greet them as a coronavirus pandemic and a strict blockade prevented the holidays in the traditional place of the birth of Jesus.
Similar reduced scenes were repeated around the world, as festive family gatherings and packed prayers that usually mark the holiday were reduced or canceled altogether because of the coronavirus.
In Australia, believers had to book tickets online to attend socially distant church services. The Philippines has banned mass gatherings and banned extended families from holding traditional dinners on Christmas Eve. Traditional carols for children from door to door have been canceled in Greece.
Pope Francis was to celebrate Mass in an almost empty Vatican service early in the evening, as new strict rules of coverage came into force.
Italians lined up at bakeries, fish markets and grocery stores for items needed to prepare for Christmas Eve, even though government officials begged families to limit their “dinner” gatherings to no more than two people outside the unit. main family. Earlier this week, the government banned travel between regions, and police went out on Thursday, enforcing the restrictions.
Holidays in other parts of Europe have been canceled or considerably reduced as virus infections grow on the continent and a new, more contagious variant has been detected.
In Athens, Christmas Eve was extremely quiet. In normal times, children’s voices singing carols while ringing metal triangles can be heard all day long. The decades-old custom of children going from house to house and receiving small gifts has been banned this year. Groups of children managed to honor the tradition by singing to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis via video link – including students from a school for children with hearing difficulties who interpreted in sign language.
The government of northern Macedonia has banned outdoor holidays and gatherings of more than four people at home. Hotels and restaurants are not allowed to hold New Year’s celebrations, and bars and restaurants must be closed between 18:00 and 20 January.
“The parties can wait, health cannot,” Health Minister Venko Flipce said in a Facebook post.
In Bethlehem, officials tried to take full advantage of a bad situation.
“Christmas is a holiday that renews hope in the soul,” said Mayor Anton Salman. “Despite all the obstacles and challenges due to the crown and the lack of tourism, the city of Bethlehem is looking forward to the future with optimism.”
The harsh, rainy weather added to the gloomy atmosphere, as dozens of people gathered in downtown Manger Square to greet Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Fanfares of young people singing Christmas carols at the bagpipes, accompanied by drummers, led a procession before the arrival of the patriarch in the early afternoon.
“Despite the restrictions and limitations, we want to celebrate as much as possible, with family, community and joy,” said Pizzaballa, who was to lead a small mass meeting at midnight later in the evening. “We want to offer hope.”
Thousands of foreign pilgrims usually gather in Bethlehem for the holidays. But the closure of Israel’s international airport for foreign tourists, along with Palestinian restrictions banning long-distance travel in areas it manages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has kept visitors away.
The restrictions limited participation to dozens of residents and a small entourage of religious officials. The evening festivities, when pilgrims normally gather around the Christmas tree, were canceled, and the midnight Mass was limited to clerics.
The coronavirus has dealt a severe blow to the Bethlehem tourism sector, the lifeblood of the local economy. Restaurants, hotels and gift shops have been closed.
Elsewhere, there has been little holiday permission for tourism-dependent Thailand, as the country faces an unexpected rise in virus cases, despite strict border controls that have effectively blocked travelers from entering the kingdom.
Christmas and New Year holidays are usually the peak season for hotels, restaurants, bars in tropical countries and entertainment venues often more naughty than beautiful. Many of these businesses have gone out of business or decided that they are worth opening.
Shopping malls that deal a lot with foreign tourists have built artificial Christmas hawks. Some hotels that have remained open wear their usual buffets for resident expatriates and members of the elite with money from Thailand.
But any hope of a return to normalcy has been shattered in recent days, as the country has a new group of more than 1,000 cases. Authorities responded by announcing new restrictions on Bangkok and other areas that included the cancellation of the New Year holidays.
Until recently, Australians were expecting a relatively Christmas-free COVID-19, after travel restrictions across the state relaxed in recent weeks in the absence of any evidence of community transmission. But holiday plans were shattered when three cases detected on December 17 exposed a new group in northern Sydney. As additional cases were detected, states closed their borders again.
Peta Johnson, a resident of northern Queensland, was preparing to meet her recently widowed father in Sydney. Travel restrictions stopped travel until February.
“He is absolutely enthusiastic because he wants to have some time with us and take a break from Sydney and everything that has happened,” she said.
Churches required believers to book tickets for services. Brett Mendez, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Perth, said St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral will limit services to 650 worshipers, just over half the normal level.
While many places around the world maintained or increased Christmas restrictions, Lebanon was an exception. With the disastrous economy and parts of the capital destroyed by a massive explosion of ports on August 4, Lebanon lifted most antivirus measures before the holidays, hoping to encourage spending. Tens of thousands of Lebanese expatriates arrived home for the holidays, leading to fears of an inevitable increase in cases during the festive season.
Lebanon has the highest percentage of Christians in the Middle East – about a third of its 5 million people – and traditionally celebrates Christmas with much fanfare.
A giant fir tree in the center of Beirut is decorated with firefighters’ uniforms to commemorate those who died in the port explosion. Another tree represents the ancient houses in Beirut destroyed by the explosion.
“People around us were tired, depressed and exhausted, so we said to plant just a drop of joy and love,” said Sevine Ariss, one of the organizers of a Christmas fair along the coastal road, where the explosion caused the most damage.
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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Nicole Winfield in Rome, Adam Schreck in Bangkok, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, Northern Macedonia and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed to the reporting.