May (Web-only) 2002

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter, or Pascha, on Sunday (the five-week difference is due to their keeping the Julian calendar while the West is on the Gregorian calendar). More than 1,000 attended services at the Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, where Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I led the service and passed out eggs.

Russian president Vladimir Putin attended a five-hour service in Moscow, led by Patriarch Alexy II. Almost everywhere in the Eastern Orthodox world, the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity became part of the sermons and prayers. "Together with other local churches, the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly called on the rival sides not to allow sacrilege of this church, as well as of church buildings and places of mass pilgrimage," Alexy II said.

The Daily Star of Lebanon said local Orthodox clergy were massively scaling back Paschal celebrations this year "in solidarity with the Palestinian people" and "in appreciation of the great sacrifices the Palestinians are making to regain their land and dignity." Antiochian Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim urged Orthodox Christians to protest "Israeli massacres committed against the Palestinians and specifically against the Church of the Nativity." Jordan's Orthodox leaders likewise canceled all but the minimum Easter celebrations to support the Palestinians and oppose the desecration of the Church of the Nativity.

At the church itself, Orthodox priests should have been moving from the Lenten fast to the Paschal feast. That's hard to do when there's no food. "It is hard to feel happiness this Easter, but I am praying for a miracle," said Rihan Murad, as he left a nearby Orthodox service. "We need a miracle that could bring the hearts of Jews, Muslims, ...