JERUSALEM – On Friday morning, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the limestone alleys of the Christian quarter, it was as if the pandemic had never happened.
The winding passages that form the Via Dolorosa, along which Christians believe Jesus carried his cross for the crucifixion, were packed with more than 1,000 worshipers. In the covered market, the air smelled of incense and echoed with Christian hymns. The Good Friday procession was back, where the faithful retrace the path that Jesus would have taken.
“It is like a miracle,” said the Rev. Amjad Sabbara, a Roman Catholic priest who helped lead the procession. “We are not doing this online. We are seeing the people in front of us. “
Pandemic restrictions forced the cancellation of last year’s ceremony and demanded that priests hold services without the presence of worshipers. Now, thanks to the launch of the world’s leading vaccine in Israel, religious life in Jerusalem is returning to normal. And on Friday, this once again brought crowds to the city streets, and relief even for one of the most solemn celebrations of Christianity: the Good Friday procession.
“We are very lucky to be here,” said May Bathish, a 40-year-old chorister from Father Sabbara’s church in the Old City. “When you walk the same steps that Jesus did, it is the greatest privilege.”
For much of last year, the pandemic has kept the Old City eerily empty. Its shops, synagogues and churches used to be closed, and its alleys without tourists and pilgrims. But with nearly 60 percent of Israeli residents fully vaccinated, the city streets were once again bustling, even though foreign tourists were still absent.
“When it’s empty, it’s like a ghost town,” said Mrs. Bathish. Now, she added, “it is a city of life”.
At the meeting point for the procession on Friday, there was barely room to stand. The police prevented the stragglers from entering the nearby side streets. Members of a group of young Catholics formed a ring around the bearers of a large replica of the crucifix, the centerpiece of the procession, to spare those who carried it from the bumps of a sea of believers.
Many of those in the procession were Palestinians who became Israeli residents after Israel captured the Old City in 1967, along with the rest of East Jerusalem. About 6,000 Christians live in the Old City, alongside Muslims and Jews.
“Walk behind the cross!” shouted a church official. “Behind the cross, everyone!”
Above the confusion, Father Amjad asked his congregation to walk in pairs. “Two by two,” he shouted over the speaker. “Not one by one!”
Then, the crowd slowly moved away, singing sad hymns as they continued along what Christians consider to be a reenactment of Jesus’ last steps.
They walked in leaps and bounds along the Via Dolorosa, past the place where tradition says that Jesus was judged by Pontius Pilate, past where he was flogged and ridiculed, past shops selling Christian crosses and icons, ice cream and T-shirts.
They turned left and then right, in places where Christians believe Jesus stumbled – once, twice, three times – under the weight of the crucifix.
In the alley outside the chapel of São Simão de Cyrene, the protesters dragged their fingers over an ocher limestone on the chapel wall. According to tradition, Jesus stood against the stone after stumbling. And so many pilgrims, over so many centuries, have caressed the stone that its surface is now smooth to the touch.
Finally, they arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which believers think was the site of the crucifixion, burial and, finally, Christ’s resurrection.
For some, the Good Friday procession had even more resonance than usual – its themes of suffering, redemption and renewal seeming to be particularly symbolic when the end of a deadly pandemic finally came into view.
“We have gained hope again,” said George Halis, 24, who is studying to be a priest and lives in the Old City. “The past year has been like a darkness that has befallen the whole earth.”
For others, there was a theological importance, as well as an emotional one, in order to be able to meet again.
“All Christians are part of the body of Christ,” said Msgr. Vincenzo Peroni, a Catholic priest based in Jerusalem who regularly leads pilgrimages to the Holy Land. “Being able to celebrate together makes it more visible.”
But, for now, this union still faces limits. There are still restrictions on the number of worshipers at Easter services. Masks are still a legal requirement. And foreigners still need an exemption to enter Israel – driving thousands of pilgrims away, at the expense of local shopkeepers who depend on their businesses.
“It still looks like it’s not normal,” said Hagop Karakashian, the owner of a famous pottery shop in the Old Town, whose family designed the neighborhood’s street signs. “Locals can celebrate, yes. But something is still missing. “
The climate among Christians a few kilometers away, in the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, was even less joyful. Christians in the occupied territories can visit Jerusalem only with special permission, which became even more difficult to obtain during the pandemic. Although the majority of Israelis are already vaccinated, the vast majority of Palestinians have not received a dose.
Israel has provided vaccines for more than 100,000 Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, almost all of them working in Israeli settlements or in the West Bank. The Palestinian authorities obtained about 150,000 additional doses.
But Israel says it is not obliged to vaccinate the rest of the Palestinian population, citing a clause in the Oslo peace accords of the 1990s, which transferred health care to Palestinian authorities. Critics say it is still Israel’s responsibility to help, citing international legislation that requires an occupying power to oversee health care for the working population, as well as a separate clause in the Oslo accords that says Israel must work with Palestinians during epidemics.
In any case, infection rates are still high in the occupied territories and vaccination rates are low – and this has limited the number of Palestinian Christians allowed to enter Jerusalem at Easter this year. An Israeli government spokesman declined to reveal the final number.
“Without permission, we cannot go,” said Rev. Jamal Khader, the Roman Catholic priest in the parish in Ramallah. “It is a sign of the continued presence of occupation and movement limitations.”
But Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection still provide spiritual food for a discouraged population, said Father Khader, who is allowed to enter Jerusalem through his work with the church.
“We identify with the sufferings of Christ on Good Friday,” he said.
“So,” he added, “we found some hope on Easter Sunday.”