Easter

Catholic faithful this weekend celebrate Palm Sunday, a feast that commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by crowds that strewed palm branches before Him. "The traditional Palm Sunday procession organized by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest on the city streets had to be canceled for the second year in a row because of the pandemic.

They are the annual journeys of late winter and early spring: Factory workers in China heading home for the Lunar New Year; American college students going on road trips and hitting the beach over spring break; Germans and Britons fleeing drab skies for some Mediterranean sun over Easter.

All of it canceled, in doubt or under pressure because of the coronavirus.

No virus can harm one's faith or customs. Nor is the exigency for health-protecting measures a blow to religious freedom.
We celebrated Easter with empty churches. Now, August 15 (one of Greece's biggest religious holidays) presents an even greater challenge: There is no blanket ban, meaning that adhering to the rules is up to the faithful. 

People maintain social distancing during an Easter service open for the public, as the Orthodox Easter was not celebrated by faithful in churches last April, because of a nationwide lockdown against the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in Athens, Tuesday. [Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

Churches were last night to hold Easter Saturday services with congregations, which they had been unable to do in March due to the lockdown. 

Archbishop Ieronymos officiated over a service at Athens Cathedral from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., while thousands of Orthodox faithful gathered at churches around the country to sing hymns celebrating the Resurrection of Christ. 

Photos of a Roman Catholic priest in the Detroit area using a squirt gun to spray parishioners with holy water in an attempt to maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic have gone viral.

Prices of lamb for St. George's Day remain unchanged. 80% the Bulgarian meat was sold on the Easter market. This is reported by the National Sheep and Goat Association. The remaining 20% will be sold for May 6th. The amount will satisfy the needs for St. George's Day." The price of the lamb at Easter ranged between 14-16 BGN per kilogram.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Thursday urged the public to obey the lockdown rules on May 1 holiday, as they did on Easter, when everything was seen in order because there was no increase in the number of infections with the novel coronavirus.

Six doctors and four nurses - all the staff on duty in the Covid-19 department of the Sotiria Hospital in Athens on Easter Saturday evening - sing hymns of the Resurrection outside the rooms of 14 patients being treated for the coronavirus.

The Easter celebrations have been "very peaceful," Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday, adding that no risk of an increase in the risk of an increased spreading of the novel coronavirus can now be related to the holy celebrations. "The holy Easter celebration has been very peaceful.