- Title: On an empty Via Dolorosa before Easter, praying for the world's sick
- Date: 10th April 2020
- Summary: JERUSALEM (APRIL 2, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE RELIEF ON STATION 3 OF THE VIA DOLOROSA ROUTE JERUSALEM (APRIL 1, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON, SAYING: "The sculptures of the Via Dolorosa are a gift, a wonderful gift, from Verona in Italy." JERUSALEM (APRIL 2, 2020) (REUTERS) STATION 4 OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS - 'JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER' STATION 4 JERUSALEM (APRIL 1, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON, SAYING: "We see the station in which Jesus meets his mother, we see the suffering of the mother." FATHER PATTON SITTING IN ST. SAVIOUR'S MONASTERY CHESS SET IN ST. SAVIOUR'S MONASTERY IN JERUSALEM (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON, SAYING: "I feel that it is something that helps me to identify immediately and to visualize, to have the image." JERUSALEM (APRIL 2, 2020) (REUTERS) STATION 2 OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS - 'JESUS RECEIVING THE CROSS' (MUTE) VARIOUS OF VIA DOLOROSA SCULPTURE AT STATION 7 - 'JESUS FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIME' JERUSALEM (MARCH 27, 2020) (REUTERS) FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON AND FELLOW FRANCISCAN FRIARS WALK ALONG LAST SECTION OF VIA DOLOROSA INTO JERUSALEM'S CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE JERUSALEM (APRIL 4, 2020) (REUTERS) HOLY SEPULCHRE SIGN JERUSALEM (APRIL 1, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON, SAYING: "I did the Via Dolorosa last Friday and it was completely empty. We were 10 friars because the provisions were that no more than 10 people can pray in an open space and we were the only ones doing the Via Dolorosa." JERUSALEM (MARCH 27, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FATHER PATTON AND OTHER FRANCISCAN FRIARS PRAYING OUTSIDE CLOSED DOORS OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE JERUSALEM (APRIL 1, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE CUSTOS OF THE HOLY LAND FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, FATHER FRANCESCO PATTON, SAYING: "For me the feeling was a great personal emotion. The responsibility to pray in the place in which Jesus conquered death, to pray for all those who are in this moment very in face of death." CRUCIFIX IN ST. SAVIOUR'S MONASTERY JERUSALEM (APRIL 4, 2020) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) MOON OVER VIA DOLOROSA IN JERUSALEM STATION 9 OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS - 'JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME' AT SUNSET STATION 9 OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS - 'JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME' AT SUNSET WITH CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN THE BACKGROUND ILLUMINATED CROSS OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AT NIGHT
- Embargoed: 24th April 2020 07:14
- Keywords: COVID-19 Christians Easter Franciscans Israel Jerusalem Jesus Via Dolorosa coronavirus crucifixion pilgrims sick
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Jerusalem
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA003C8WQ4AV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Brown-robed Franciscans stride through a shuttered and deserted Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the global focus of the most important festival in the Christian calendar - but in a city bereft of Easter pilgrims.
Among them is Father Francesco Patton, 56, the custodian of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church, responsible for looking after its sacred sites.
"We are living in strange days. Usually at this time the Old City was full of ...pilgrims coming for Holy Week," he said after his group prayed outside the locked door of the church that is their base.
The Franciscans' ceremonial walk along the Via Dolorosa marks the journey that Christians believe Jesus took to his crucifixion and resurrection.
This Easter the route bears new bronze reliefs depicting that journey, a gift from Verona sculpted by Italian artist Alessandro Mutto. But there is no-one to see them.
"Now it is a little bit sad to see that ...nobody is able to walk (it). But we know that at this moment so many people are walking a personal Via Dolorosa, when I think of those who are in the hospital and in their houses fighting with coronavirus," Patton said.
COVID-19 has infected more than 9,755 in Israel, with 79 fatalities. Residents are locked down in their homes for all but essential activities, which do not include religious ceremonies.
So the Christian denominations that share custody of the Holy Sepulchre face closures unprecedented in living memory, as do Jewish and Muslim leaders in a city that has sites sacred to all three faiths. Passover, Easter and Ramadan all fall this month, with Catholics today celebrating Good Friday - today and Easter Sunday on April 12.
Like other clergy, Patton's Franciscans conform with social distancing guidelines as they say prayers along the Via Dolorosa, stopping at the 14 Stations of the Cross that mark events leading up to Jesus' burial.
When they arrive at the Sepulchre, they pray for the sick and the dying around the world, and the medical staff treating them - as Patton's predecessors treated the sick in medieval times.
"A small Franciscan community started to live in the Holy Sepulchre in 1333, so you can imagine what it means for us, this place," Patton said.
"The responsibility to pray in the place in which Jesus conquered death, to pray for all those who are, in this moment, very (much) in the face of death."
(Production: Illan Rosenbergm Dedi Hayun, Ammar Awad, Stephen Farrell, Rinat Harash, Nuha Sharaf) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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