Holy Land’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher will now be closed indefinitely
For the first time in nearly seven centuries, the church built on the site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ has been closed to the public.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, containing the tomb of Christ, will likely see extremely quiet celebrations of Easter, with a limited number of clergy conducting private liturgies, Aleteia reports.
Authorities originally closed the church March 25 for a week in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the closure has been extended indefinitely.
A statement issued March 26 by Brother Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, His Beatitude Theophilus III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and His Excellency Nourhan Manugian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, said.
“Following the evolution of the situation in the Holy Land, we, the leaders of the three communities to whom Divine Providence has entrusted the grace and honour of making the praise of God resound in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and of the Resurrection, wish to communicate that the celebrations of the three Greek-Orthodox, Latin and Armenian communities will continue regularly.”
As we have reported before, the Easter celebrations will be hold in the Holy Land, but the religious leaders ask the everyone to participate in the ceremonies via internet.
Jerusalem: Restrictions on Holy Week and Easter due to coronavirus
