Israel sees crowds for Easter due to vaccine successes

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 passageways that form the Via Dolorosa, along which Christians believe Jesus hauled his cross toward his crucifixion, were packed with more than 1,000 worshippers. In the covered market, the air smelled of incense and echoed with Christian hymns. The Good Friday procession, where the faithful retrace the route Jesus is said to have taken, was back.

“It is like a miracle,” said the Rev. Amjad Sabbara, a Roman Catholic priest who helped lead the procession. “We’re not doing this online. We’re seeing the people in front of us.”

Pandemic restrictions forced the cancellation of last year’s ceremony and required priests to hold services without congregants present. Now, thanks to Israel’s world-leading vaccine rollout, religious life in Jerusalem is edging back to normal. And Friday, that brought crowds once again to the city’s streets, and relief to one of Christianity’s most solemn commemorations: the Good Friday procession.

“We are so lucky to be here,” said May Bathish, a 40-year-old chorister at Sabbara’s church in the Old City. “When you walk the same steps that Jesus did, it is the highest privilege.”

For much of the past year, the pandemic kept the Old City eerily empty. Its shops, synagogues and churches were often shuttered, its alleys bereft of tourists and pilgrims. But with nearly 60 percent of Israeli residents fully vaccinated, the city’s streets were once again thrumming, even if foreign tourists were still absent.

“When it is empty, it is like a city of ghosts,” said Bathish. Now, she added, “It is a city of life.”

At the gathering point for the procession Friday, there was scarcely space to stand. Police officers blocked latecomers from entering from nearby side streets. Members of a Catholic youth group formed a ring around the bearers of a large crucifix, the centerpiece of the procession, to spare those carrying it from the jostles of a sea of worshippers.

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. Around 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 hubbub, Sabbara called on his congregation to walk in pairs. “Two by two,” he shouted through a loudspeaker. “Not one by one!”

Then the crowd moved slowly off, singing mournful hymns as they proceeded along what Christians consider a reenactment of Jesus’ last steps.

“All Christians are part of the body of Christ,” said Monsignor Vincenzo Peroni, a Catholic priest based in Jerusalem who has regularly led pilgrimages within the Holy Land. “Being able to celebrate together makes that more visible.”

But for now, that togetherness faces limits. There are still restrictions on the number of worshippers at Easter services. Masks are still a legal requirement. And foreigners still need an exemption to enter Israel.