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Voice of America
April 8 2007
Christians Celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
By voanews
Christians celebrated Easter Sunday in Jerusalem with services in
Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher and at other sites in the
Holy Land. VOA's Jim Teeple reports that for the first time in four
years, five different Christian sects celebrated Easter on the same
day.
Jerusalem's Armenian Patriarch led a solemn procession of Armenian
monks into the basilica of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site
where Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified and buried. The
Armenian procession was just one of several that celebrated Easter
Services in one of Christianity's holiest sites on Sunday.
This year for the first time in four years, five different Christian
sects celebrated Easter at the same time.
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Conner is an Irish Dominican priest who has
lived in Jerusalem for more than 50 years, teaching New Testament
studies at Jerusalem's Ecole Biblique, a graduate school of theology.
Father Jerry, as he is known, says with the convergence of the
Orthodox and the Western calendars this year, space is at a premium
in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
`This year, it happens every five or six years, the Orthodox and the
Western church all celebrate Easter on the same day,' he said. 'What
it means in practice is that schedules have to be kept very tight.
People cannot hang around after a service. They have to leave to make
room for the others, and of course if they are in a state of
spiritual exaltation and delay then there can be trouble
unfortunately.'
Unlike previous years, there were no clashes reported between
followers of different Christian sects. Tobias Raschke, from Munich,
who attended Easter Services at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
said he was impressed by how all the different sects and
nationalities mixed together.
`We got up at three in the morning to hold a German Easter liturgy
and now we have come to the Church to see what is happening here,'
said Raschke. 'This is a crazy place because somehow now they have an
Armenian service and then after one hour they have a Catholic
service. It is fascinating to see the key to the church is in the
hands of a Moslem and the Israeli police making sure that nothing
happens. I think it is great the job Israel is doing here, making it
safe so people can come here from different faiths and denominations
and pray here and everything is safe.'
With an easing of security fears this year, the convergence of the
Western and Orthodox Christian calendars and weeklong Jewish Passover
observances occurring at the same time, Jerusalem hotels reported
full occupancy rates for the first time in years.
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Conner says with thousands of Jewish and
Christian visitors in Jerusalem this year some will probably leave
the city disappointed.
`The city is really crowded with pilgrims. The basic meaning of
pilgrimage is to go pray at a place,' he said. 'You go because you
believe somehow that prayer there is will be somehow easier or real
because a holy person has sanctified it. People who have that
unconscious expectation then find themselves in a huge crowd being
pushed and shoved and they feel they are being robbed of space to
recollect themselves.'
Israeli security forces sealed off the occupied West Bank at the
beginning of Jewish Passover observances last week, preventing most
Palestinians, except those granted special visitors passes, from
visiting Jerusalem.
Thousands of Palestinian Christians, mostly from the nearby city of
Bethlehem are granted the passes but security restrictions exclude
many, especially young men from visiting.
Israeli authorities say the restrictions are necessary to prevent
suicide bombings against targets in Israel.
April 8 2007
Christians Celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
By voanews
Christians celebrated Easter Sunday in Jerusalem with services in
Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher and at other sites in the
Holy Land. VOA's Jim Teeple reports that for the first time in four
years, five different Christian sects celebrated Easter on the same
day.
Jerusalem's Armenian Patriarch led a solemn procession of Armenian
monks into the basilica of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site
where Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified and buried. The
Armenian procession was just one of several that celebrated Easter
Services in one of Christianity's holiest sites on Sunday.
This year for the first time in four years, five different Christian
sects celebrated Easter at the same time.
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Conner is an Irish Dominican priest who has
lived in Jerusalem for more than 50 years, teaching New Testament
studies at Jerusalem's Ecole Biblique, a graduate school of theology.
Father Jerry, as he is known, says with the convergence of the
Orthodox and the Western calendars this year, space is at a premium
in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
`This year, it happens every five or six years, the Orthodox and the
Western church all celebrate Easter on the same day,' he said. 'What
it means in practice is that schedules have to be kept very tight.
People cannot hang around after a service. They have to leave to make
room for the others, and of course if they are in a state of
spiritual exaltation and delay then there can be trouble
unfortunately.'
Unlike previous years, there were no clashes reported between
followers of different Christian sects. Tobias Raschke, from Munich,
who attended Easter Services at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
said he was impressed by how all the different sects and
nationalities mixed together.
`We got up at three in the morning to hold a German Easter liturgy
and now we have come to the Church to see what is happening here,'
said Raschke. 'This is a crazy place because somehow now they have an
Armenian service and then after one hour they have a Catholic
service. It is fascinating to see the key to the church is in the
hands of a Moslem and the Israeli police making sure that nothing
happens. I think it is great the job Israel is doing here, making it
safe so people can come here from different faiths and denominations
and pray here and everything is safe.'
With an easing of security fears this year, the convergence of the
Western and Orthodox Christian calendars and weeklong Jewish Passover
observances occurring at the same time, Jerusalem hotels reported
full occupancy rates for the first time in years.
Father Jerome Murphy-O'Conner says with thousands of Jewish and
Christian visitors in Jerusalem this year some will probably leave
the city disappointed.
`The city is really crowded with pilgrims. The basic meaning of
pilgrimage is to go pray at a place,' he said. 'You go because you
believe somehow that prayer there is will be somehow easier or real
because a holy person has sanctified it. People who have that
unconscious expectation then find themselves in a huge crowd being
pushed and shoved and they feel they are being robbed of space to
recollect themselves.'
Israeli security forces sealed off the occupied West Bank at the
beginning of Jewish Passover observances last week, preventing most
Palestinians, except those granted special visitors passes, from
visiting Jerusalem.
Thousands of Palestinian Christians, mostly from the nearby city of
Bethlehem are granted the passes but security restrictions exclude
many, especially young men from visiting.
Israeli authorities say the restrictions are necessary to prevent
suicide bombings against targets in Israel.