Media: Ceremony of Holy Fire descent to be held without pilgrims

The ceremony of Holy Fire descent will involve approximately 10 people. Photo: © AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov

Due to the measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Holy Fire descent ceremony in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem will be held "without the presence of pilgrims" and "with a limited number of participants", reports TASS with reference to the head of the Bureau for World Jewish Affairs and World Religions at the Israel Foreign Ministry Akiva Tor.

“The Ceremony will be held, as always, April 18, but without the presence of pilgrims. The ceremony will be held with a limited number of participants. It will involve approximately 10 people”, – said the diplomat.

He noted that the event will be broadcast from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to Akiva Tor, after the ceremony, the Shrine will give the representatives of other countries who are not able to leave their aircraft because of the complicated epidemiological situation.

“After the ceremony, the fire will be delivered by the representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church to the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, after which the representatives of the embassies, which is not necessary but most likely, will deliver the fire to Ben Gurion Airport. Representatives who arrive for the fire will not be able to disembark their planes due to quarantine requirements, but those who receive it at the Jaffa Gate will hand over the fire to them,” said the representative of the Israel Foreign Ministry.

As reported earlier, Israeli authorities will allow usual Easter-related ceremonies in Jerusalem to proceed, but with the restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic. A flight to deliver the Holy Fire to Ukraine has already been organized.

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