Easter Mass held at shuttered Church of the Holy Sepulchre

12 April 2020, 11:23 am

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At Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and entombed, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa urges the faithful to not be discouraged.

“Despite the sign of death and fear that we are seeing everywhere all over the world, we have to look at the good all those that are giving their lives for the others,” he says.

Only a handful of clergy are on hand for the Mass, and the streets of the Old City surrounding the church are empty of pilgrims and vendors who would normally be doing brisk business.

“The message of Easter is that life, despite all will prevail,” says Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land.

— AP