The Jerusalem churches today rejected restrictions to be imposed by the Israeli police during the Holy Light ceremony at the Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. The ceremony is part of the orthodox churches Easter celebrations this week according to the Julian calendar.
The Status Quo Committee of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Patriarchate rejected in a statement what they described as the “unreasonable restrictions” by Israeli police for the Holy Light ceremony.
“The celebration of the Holy Light Ceremony is a great moment that ties the faithful to the light of Jesus Christ. The ceremony has been faithfully taking place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for nearly 2000 years attracting Christians from around the world,” they said.
“This year, after many attempts made in goodwill, we are not able to coordinate with the Israeli authorities, as they are enforcing unreasonable, and unprecedented, restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulcher, more so than last year. These heavy-handed restrictions will limit access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Light Ceremony. Police are unfairly and inappropriately placing the burden on the churches to issue invitations while tying the churches’ hands with unreasonable restrictions that will prevent worshippers from attending particularly our local community. This makes difficult our coordination with the police.”
Last year, police placed barriers throughout the Old City that made it impossible for the local Christian communities to attend the Holy Light Ceremony in the Holy Sepulcher, “impeding their freedom to worship and witness the miracle of the resurrection,” said the statement, despite the churches coordinating with the Israeli authorities to ensure this ceremony can take place without an incident.
The churches stressed that “we shall continue to uphold the status quo customs, and the ceremony will be held as customary for two millennia and all who wish to worship with us are invited to attend. With that made clear, we will leave the authorities to act as they will. The churches will freely worship and do so in peace.”
The police insist on limiting the number of worshipers in the church to 1800 (1000 Orthodox, 600 Armenians, and 200 police) at a time when normally thousands attend the Holy Light ceremony as they wait for the light to come out from the tomb of Jesus Christ.
Source: Wafa