VATICAN CITY (AP) – The most joyous holiday of Christianity worldwide was celebrated with the believers spaced out in church pews and singing choirs of ‘Hallelujah’ by covering their faces on a second Easter Sunday marked by pandemic precautions.
From sprawling Roman Catholic cathedrals to Protestant churches, worshipers followed the provisions on the coronavirus. In some European countries, citizens lined up at Easter to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
In the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first broke out in the West, a hospital has given a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolizing peace for every person waiting to be vaccinated. Many who came were in their 80s.
A soccer team in Lyon, France has opened its stadium as a vaccination center for the long holiday weekend. About 9,000 people are expected to receive their shots there in three days, as the French government tries to speed up vaccinations amid a new outbreak of infections.
In the Holy Land, travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites in Jerusalem during Holy Week, leading to Easter celebrations. Pope Francis laments that the pandemic has prevented some churchgoers from attending services.
At St. Peter’s Basilica, the 200 or so faithful who were able to attend looked lost in the hollow cathedral. Normally thousands would be celebrated at the Mass celebrated by Francis, and more than 100.00 would sometimes gather outside in St. Peter’s Square to receive his Easter blessings afterwards.
But this year, as in 2020, crowds are banned from meeting in Italy and the Vatican. Francis delivered his Easter speech on world affairs from within the basilica, use the opportunity to appeal anew that vaccines reach the poorest countries.
The pope sounds tired when he notices that pandemic traditions have influenced religious holiday traditions and some have faithfully liked public worship.
“We pray that these restrictions, as well as all restrictions on the freedom of worship and religion worldwide, will be lifted and that everyone will be allowed to pray God freely and praise God,” Francis said.
In Syria, where a national vaccination program has yet to begin, churchgoers in the Lady of Damascus Church have prayed for a way out of the economic and political crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic.
“We came to church at Easter to get rid of the pandemic we are in,” Bassam Assaf said. “Of course we are not afraid of coronavirus. This is the reality we face, but it can not stop us from coming and praying to God to take us out of this trial and help the world. ”
A service at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem was celebrated by the senior Roman Catholic clergy in the Holy Land. This is where many Christians believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. Israel’s successful vaccination campaign has made possible the opening of many sites, including religious sites.
The pandemic prevented Seville’s Brotherhood of the Holy Resurrection from carrying its decorated Easter Fleet, with a high image of Jesus, through the streets of the Spanish city. Instead, the Brotherhood posted videos and old photos of their last march two years ago.
Some Pentecostal Christians in South Africa have canceled a three-day retreat from Good Friday. On the hills overlooking Soweto, a congregation in Johannesburg, Apostolic Pentecost gathered in small groups on Sunday to celebrate Easter.
In South Korea, Yoido Full Gospel Church, the country’s largest Protestant church, allowed only about 2,000 people to attend the Easter service, or about 17% of the capacity of the main building. Masked worshipers sang and prayed hymns while the service was broadcast online and through Christian TV channels.
The Italian government was meant to take down weeks of severe infections, and ordered people to stay home for the weekend of three days, except for essential assignments. Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government did allow one visit to family or friends in residents’ home regions over the weekend, which includes the national holiday Monday.
Italy allows religious services in the pandemic if capacity is limited and masks are worn. But early on, the many churches of the predominantly Roman Catholic country were only open to individual prayers.
Hundreds of Catholics marched in St. John’s Cathedral. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota, gathered for the Easter vigil service Saturday night. Every other pew was kept empty and masks were obligatory. The solemn liturgy was nevertheless a new, hopeful start for the congregation after a turbulent year.
After all the virtual Easter services last year, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City half full for Sunday’s Mass. Worshipers have haunted the vaulted neo-Gothic cathedral, which offers more than 2,000 seats. The choir sang through masks.
In Detroit, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church opened for the first time in more than a year for personal Easter services, with capacity constraints and social distance rules. Rev. Charles Christian Adams told the Detroit Free Press that people need church, especially after the congregation lost at least 14 members to COVID-19.
Tonee Carpio said that physically in the St. Vincent de Paul Church in Austin, Texas, means a lot to her after services were only offered online last year. She said that being in church keeps her Filipino culture alive in her city as there are prayers in her native Tagalog.
“When you’re inside a church, you become more solemn, you can focus on God,” she said.
In Florida, Eastgate Christian Fellowship in Panama City Beach hosted its annual sunrise service on the beach. The church had to cancel the service last year because all beaches were closed. Pastor Janelle Green estimated that about 400 people participated.
Robin Bay of Palm Bay was planning to drive her mother to Orlando on Sunday to get a second dose of vaccine at a federal emergency agency.
“She gets the freedom on the same day that (people go to church) to stand up for Jesus, so I said to her, ‘It’s like you got up too,'” Fox said.
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AP reporters from around the world contributed.
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