The annual Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is marked a day before Sunday’s
observance of Easter among Eastern Orthodox denominations, was held on Saturday on a greatly
reduced scale due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally tens of thousands of pilgrims come from a large number of countries, including Russia,
Greece and Egypt for the occasion, but this year, in coordination with the Israeli police and Foreign
Ministry and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, a small group of clergy attended the ceremony at the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe is the site of the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus.
The Holy Fire, which for the faithful symbolizes the resurrection, was taken from the church
through the Old City’s Jaffa Gate and from there by motorcade, accompanied by a police escort, to
Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv. Ten aircrafts had landed at the airport earlier in
the day from ten different countries to carry the flame back home. The crews from the planes were
required to remain on board and diplomats stationed in Israel from the countries brought the Holy
Fire to the aircraft.
The Holy Fire rite in Jerusalem, which is observed on a day known as Holy Saturday or Great
Saturday, is one of the most important annual religious events in Israel. At the climax of the
ceremony, the Greek Orthodox patriarch enters the tomb, the edicule, and emerges with the Holy
Fire. It is then disseminated to the faithful in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond using oil lamps
and torches.
During normal times, the ceremony is attended by clergy, members of the diplomatic corps and tens
of thousands of pilgrims who crowd the narrow alleyways of the Old City awaiting the sight of the
flame. The custom has been observed for hundreds of years in accordance with a set procedure that
maintains the status quo among the various Christian denominations that have a presence at the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Following extensive consultations held by Israeli police and Foreign Ministry with the
denominations, an agreement was reached for the event to take place despite Israel’s restrictive
health regulations to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
It was agreed, for example, that the ceremony inside the church would only be attended by the
Greek Orthodox patriarch, the Armenian patriarch, the Coptic church archbishop and the Syriac
archbishop as well as four other members of the clergy. They were accompanied by two police
officers and a camera crew of two, who broadcast the ceremony live.
The Holy Fire is normally accompanied abroad by major church delegations to 11 countries in
Eastern and Central Europe. This year, however, the Foreign Ministry arranged for ten of the eleven
countries to dispatch an aircraft to bring the flame back home to awaiting masses of faithful.
(Uzbekistan, the 11th country, decided not to send a plane).
Instead of the usual church delegations, the countries’ diplomats accompanied the Holy Fire to Ben-
Gurion airport. Planes were sent from Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Georgia, Cyprus, Romania,
Moldova, Belarus, Poland and Kazakhstan. The flame was also transported over land to the West
Bank, Gaza and Jordan.
“We managed to maintain all of the frameworks of the formal ritual,” said Akiva Tor, who heads the
Foreign Ministry religious affairs division. Tor noted that the agreement with the churches included
arrangements to broadcast church masses to viewers abroad, while the usual large gatherings and
processions in the Old City were cancelled.
“We tried to adhere to the status quo to the greatest extent possible,” he said, adding that everyone
understood where departure from usual practice was necessary.

The Holy Fire ceremony typically draws tens of thousands of
worshippers to an imposing grey edicule in the Holy Sepulchre
that is believed to contain the tomb where Jesus lay two
thousand years ago.

JERUSALEM – The Holy Fire ceremony symbolising Jesus’ resurrection took place in a deserted
Jerusalem on Saturday, without the joyful throng of Orthodox Christian pilgrims who would
normally attend one of the most colourful spectacles of the Easter season.
Bells tolled above a near-empty Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch,
Theophilos III, emerged from the crypt where Christians believe Jesus was buried, carrying the
flame and accompanied only by a handful of Orthodox clergy, some wearing masks to protect
against the coronavirus.
Outside in the medieval courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre, by tradition the site of Jesus’ crucifixion,
burial and resurrection, the plaza was empty of all but a few Israeli police and clerics maintaining
social distancing.
The Holy Fire ceremony typically draws tens of thousands of worshippers to an imposing grey
edicule in the Holy Sepulchre that is believed to contain the tomb where Jesus lay two thousand
years ago.
Sunbeams that pierce through a skylight in the church’s dome are believed by worshippers to ignite
a flame deep inside the crypt, a mysterious act considered a Holy Saturday miracle each year before
Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch then lights a candle with the Holy Fire and disperses it to the
faithful.
In normal years this would be to the thousands of tiny candles held by cheering worshippers packed
into the corridors and passageways of the building.
But with Jerusalem under lockdown only a few clergy were present inside the church to received
the flame from the patriarch.
TV footage showed a handful of Greek, Armenian and Coptic Orthodox clergy, garbed in black and
wearing blue face masks, standing outside the sealed tomb’s wooden door.
The Holy Sepulchre church, like others in the Holy Land, was closed to the public last month amid
precautions against the spread of coronavirus.
The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox churches share custody of the building with Roman
Catholics, who celebrated Easter last week.
Jerusalem has sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Leaders of all three religions have
closed holy sites and urged followers to celebrate festivals at home this year.

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A small group of Christian clergy celebrated on Saturday the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in a deserted Jerusalem as pilgrims who normally attended the ancient ritual
stayed home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Clergymen entered the Edicule, a chamber built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was
buried two thousand years ago and rose from the dead after being crucified. Bells tolled above a
near-empty church as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III, emerged from the crypt
carrying a candle lit by the flame. The source of the flame is a closely-guarded secret.
Clerics from different Orthodox denominations then circled around inside the empty church,
chanting prayers that echoed off the walls. In the medieval courtyard outside, instead of the tens of
thousands of worshippers who usually attend the ceremony, there were a few Israeli police and
clerics maintaining social distancing.
Traditional festival
Sunbeams that pierce through a skylight in the church’s dome are believed by worshippers to ignite
a flame deep inside the crypt, a mysterious act considered a Holy Saturday miracle each year before
Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch then lights a candle with the Holy Fire and disperses it to the
faithful. The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox churches share custody of Church of the
Holy Sepulchre with Roman Catholics, who celebrated Easter last week.
In normal years there would be thousands of tiny candles held by cheering worshippers packed into
the passageways of the building. But this year only a handful of Greek, Armenian, Russian and
Coptic clergy, many garbed in black and wearing face masks, were present inside the church to
receive the flame from the patriarch.
An Armenian priest wearing a protective mask and gloves passes on the Holy Fire lit in the church
of the Holy Sepulchre [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Ripples of applause broke out from a small group in Jerusalem awaiting the flame outside the
church, including envoys from Orthodox Christian countries.
As the fire passed through the Christian Quarter of the Old City, worshippers who had been unable
to attend the church ceremony thronged into the back streets to receive it, ignoring coronavirus
restrictions as they chanted, banged drums, waved crucifixes and climbed on each others’ shoulders.
The flame was also transported by oil lamp a few miles south to the Palestinian town of Bethlehem
in the occupied West Bank, where clergy witnessed the Holy Fire arrive at the Church of the
Nativity.
The church, revered in tradition as Jesus’s birthplace, has been closed for weeks because of a
coronavirus outbreak in Bethlehem, as have other churches in the Holy Land.
As Israel has reported more than 13,000 coronavirus infections and 158 deaths, it made special
arrangements with church leaders to allow the holy flame to be carried abroad to other Orthodox
communities.
Because anyone entering Israel must go into quarantine, foreign dignitaries coming to pick up the
flame will receive it in special containers on their planes and immediately return home.
Jerusalem has sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Leaders of all three religions have
closed holy sites or restricted access, and have urged followers to celebrate festivals at home this
year.