- Princess Mary hits the dancefloor and rocks out at a private concert with her family to celebrate son Christian’s 18th birthday in Christiansborg Palace Daily Mail
- Prince Christian Poses for Group Photo with 4 Future Queens at Birthday PEOPLE
- Prince Christian of Denmark’s Birthday Celebration Photos – Royals in Attendance Town & Country
- Remarkable photo shows Prince Christian of Denmark flanked by four Queens-in-waiting on his 18th birthday – af Daily Mail
- The Search for a Real-Life Cinderella! Someone Left Their Shoe at the Castle After Prince Christian’s Birthday PEOPLE
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Tag Archives: Christians
Israeli Leaders Sharply Criticize Orthodox Spitting Incidents, Protests Against Christians – CBN News
- Israeli Leaders Sharply Criticize Orthodox Spitting Incidents, Protests Against Christians CBN News
- Israeli police arrest suspects for spitting near Christian pilgrims and churches in Jerusalem The Washington Post
- Occupied East Jerusalem: Outrage over ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting at Christians Al Jazeera English
- Daily Briefing Oct. 5: Why Orthodox radicals are spitting at the hand that feeds them The Times of Israel
- In call with Vatican, Israel condemns ‘ugly phenomenon’ of spitting incidents The Times of Israel
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5 arrested for spitting at Christians in Jerusalem; police minister: It’s not criminal – The Times of Israel
- 5 arrested for spitting at Christians in Jerusalem; police minister: It’s not criminal The Times of Israel
- Israeli police arrest five people suspected of spitting at Christians in Occupied East Jerusalem Al Jazeera English
- Jews spitting on the ground beside Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land sparks outrage Yahoo News
- Netanyahu condemns ‘any attempt to intimidate worshippers’ after spitting incident The Times of Israel
- Outrage over Jerusalem video of ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting as Christians pass The Guardian
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US Christians could drop as secularism rises, Pew Research Center finds
Those are among the major findings of a new report from Pew regarding the United States’ religious future, a future in which Christianity, though diminished, persists, while non-Christian faiths grow amid rising secularization.
Researchers projected possible religious futures for the United States using a number of factors, including birthrates, migration patterns, demographics including age and sex, and the current religious landscape. They also looked at how religion is passed from one generation to another and how often people switch religions — in particular Christians who become nones, a number that has been increasing in recent years.
Researchers projected four different scenarios, based on differing rates of religious switching, from a continued increase to no switching at all. The unaffiliated were projected to grow under all four.
Currently, about a third (31 percent) of Christians become disaffiliated before they turn 30, according to Pew Research. Twenty-one percent of nones become Christian as young adults. Should those switching rates remain stable, Christians would make up 46 percent of the population by 2070, while nones would comprise 41 percent.
If disaffiliation rates continue to grow but are capped at 50 percent of Christians leaving the faith, 39 percent of Americans are projected to be Christian by 2070, with 48 percent of Americans identifying as nones. With no limit placed on the percentage of people leaving Christianity and with continued growth in disaffiliation, Christians would be 35 percent of the population, with nones making up a majority of Americans (52 percent).
If all switching came to a halt, Christians would remain a slight majority (54 percent), and nones would make up 34 percent of Americans, according to the model.
Non-Christian faiths would rise to 12 to 13 percent of the population, largely because of migration, in each scenario. Migration does affect the percentage of Christians, as most migrants to the United States are Christians, said Conrad Hackett, associate director of research and senior demographer at Pew Research Center. “Still the greatest amount of change in the U.S., we think currently and in the future, will come from switching,” he said.
Researchers stressed that the report contained projections that are based on data and mathematical models, and are not predictions of the future.
“Though some scenarios are more plausible than others, the future is uncertain, and it is possible for the religious composition of the United States in 2070 to fall outside the ranges projected,” they wrote.
One reason for the decline in the proportion of Christians and the growth among the nones in the models is age. While Christians have more children than nones, they also skew older. Pew estimates that the average Christian in the United States is 43, which is 10 years older than the average none.
“The unaffiliated are having and raising unaffiliated children while Christians are more likely to be near the end of their lives than others,” Stephanie Kramer, a senior researcher at Pew, wrote in an email.
Using mathematical models, Pew also has projected the future of religion around the world. Those models were adapted for different regions, Hackett said. Muslims, for example, tend to have the youngest population and the highest fertility rates, he said, driving the growth of that faith. But in the Persian Gulf states, migration has brought many Christians from other countries to the region as temporary workers.
The current report takes advantage of the amount of data collected about the U.S. religious landscape. Researchers also looked at intergenerational transmission for the first time, Kramer said.
“The variables we use to study that were: What is the mother’s religion? And what is the teen’s religion?” she said. “If that was a match, we consider the mother’s religion transmitted.”
Researchers also looked at a relatively new trend of disaffiliation among older Americans. Sociologists have long focused on younger people, who are most likely to switch religions. But in the United States and other countries, older people are starting to switch at growing rates themselves.
“It’s not as large-scale, but it’s still significant,” Hackett said. “And it’s contributing to the religious change that we have experienced and that we expect to experience in the years ahead.”
Hackett said that the projections for the country do not show the end of Christianity or of religion in general, which he expects to remain robust. And most nones, while claiming no religion, do not identify as atheists. Instead, Kramer said, the United States appears to be going through a pattern of secularization that has happened in other countries, though “we may be a bit behind.”
Other factors outside the model — such as changing immigration patterns and religious innovation — could lead to a revival of Christianity in the United States, according to the report. But none of its models shows a reversal of the decline of Christian affiliation, which dropped from 78 percent in 2007 to 63 percent in 2020, according to Pew research.
In the report, researchers note that “there is no data on which to model a sudden or gradual revival of Christianity (or of religion in general) in the U.S.”
“That does not mean a religious revival is impossible,” they wrote. “It means there is no demographic basis on which to project one.”
— Religion News Service
Denzel talks about consoling Will Smith at Oscars
Amidst the chaos that ensued at the Oscars on Sunday night—after-you-know-who abruptly took the stage to you-know-what you-know-whom straight in the face—one of the most calming presences in the Dolby Theater appears to have been Denzel Washington. The veteran actor was one of a few A-listers who joined ostensible Best Actor rival Will Smith in the aftermath of his altercation with comedian Chris Rock; his influence was soothing enough that Smith thanked him during his tearful acceptance speech a few minutes later, saying that Washington had told him, “At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”
Now Washington has gone into a bit more detail about the devil and what went down that night, talking with pastor T.D. Jakes at Jakes’ Leadership Summit this weekend, and revealing that he, Smith, and Tyler Perry had prayed together during the stop-down after the slap. Describing the evening, Washington told Jakes, “There’s a saying: When the devil ignores you, then you know you’re doing something wrong. The devil goes, ‘Oh, no, leave him at home.’ My favorite. Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it’s because you’re trying to do something, right. And for whatever reason, the devil got ahold of the circumstance that night.”
Washington declined to say what, exactly, the three men prayed about. But, “There but for the grace of God, go any of us. Who are we to condemn? I don’t know all the ins and outs of the situation, but I know the only solution was prayer.” (Also: A meaningful, shoulder-touching conversation with Bradley Cooper, who was also one of a handful of people who talked to Smith immediately after the slap.)
Fallout from the incident continues to develop; Smith resigned from The Academy last night, meaning he’ll no longer be eligible for Oscars voting going forward. (He also almost certainly won’t be asked back for the traditional job of handing out the Best Actress award next year.) While accepting his resignation, Academy president Dave Rubin noted that Smith will still be subject to disciplinary proceedings from the body later this month.
[via Variety]
Orthodox Christians observe Christmas amid COVID concerns
Orthodox Christians in Russia, Serbia and other countries observed Christmas on Friday amid restrictions aimed at dampening the spread of the coronavirus, but few worshipers appeared concerned as they streamed into churches on Christmas Eve.
The majority of Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, with midnight services especially popular. The churches in Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece mark the Nativity of Jesus on Dec. 25 along with other Christian denominations.
The Russian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox congregation, said celebrants needed to wear masks and observe social distancing at Christmas services. At Moscow’s huge Christ The Savior Cathedral, church leader Patriarch Kirill and other gold-robed priests chanted prayers and waved smoking containers of incense during a midnight service.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle during the Orthodox Christmas Liturgy in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow, Russia, late Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
POPE FRANCIS ENCOURAGES A ‘COURAGEOUS AND PROPHETIC FAITH,’ DECRIES CONSUMERISM
A live broadcast of the service indicated about half of the worshippers in attendance were without masks or had them pulled down to their chins as they watched the pageantry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, also without a mask, attended a service at the Church of the Image of the Saviour Made Without Hands in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow.
Russia’s daily tally of new COVID-19 cases has dropped by about half in the last month, to about 15,000 on Thursday. But concern is strong that the highly contagious omicron variant may be getting a foothold in the country.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday that officials have detected omicron infections in people who had not traveled outside Russia.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill delivers the Christmas Liturgy in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
POPE FRANCIS SHOULD LET CATHOLIC PRAY LIKE CATHOLICS
In Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, hundreds of worshipers gathered outside St. Sava Temple, the largest Serbian Orthodox church, for the traditional burning of dried oak branches that symbolize the Yule log. The church also scheduled a midnight Christmas Eve liturgy.
No specific anti-virus measures were announced for Serbia’s religious ceremonies despite a huge rise in infections apparently fueled by the omicron variant. Serbia on Thursday reported more than 9,000 new daily cases, the most in one day since the start of the pandemic.
Health measures in Serbia include mandatory face mask use indoors and limits on gatherings, but the rules have not been fully respected. Vaccination passes are required for bars, restaurants and clubs in the evening but not for churches or other indoor venues.
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In his Christmas message, Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije singled out medical personnel for their work during the public health crisis and said, “I pray for the sick to get well as soon as possible and for the disease that has attacked the world to pass.”
“The Church therefore calls during the pandemic for the respect of reasonable measures and recommendations of governments and other authorities in the states and regions in which our people live, but also reminds everyone to avoid exclusion and for respect of human freedom as the highest and most valuable God’s gift to men,” Porfirije added.
In Kazakhstan, the sizable Orthodox community could not observe Christmas in churches. All religious services were canceled under a nationwide state of emergency imposed after violent clashes between protesters and police in several cities. About 20% of the people in the predominantly Muslim country identify as Orthodox.
Indian bishop denounces ‘open season’ against Christians as states pass ‘anti-conversion’ laws
A Christian bishop in India is calling on leaders in his country and around the world to speak up against the growing persecution of Christians on the subcontinent.
Rev. Joseph D’Souza, who is archbishop of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India, told Fox News Digital he is concerned about India’s image in the world because of escalating attacks against Christians in the country.
“The last few months have become an open season for attacks against Christian minorities,” said D’Souza, who is also the founder of Dignity Freedom Network and president of the ecumenical All India Christian Council.
‘A bizarre situation’
Anti-Christian vigilantes have been persecuting believers throughout India in recent months by going through villages interrupting church services, burning Christian books and assaulting Christians during worship, according to government documents and interviews reported on Wednesday by The New York Times.
“These are not isolated events, but it is a coordination going on, because in state after state, similar kinds of incidents are happening,” D’Souza said. He noted how 2021 has seen approximately 300 such attacks against Christians, who make up only 2.3% of the population in the Hindu-majority country.
Young Christian woman standing in front of a church in Goa, India. (rvimages via Getty Images)
“And what is happening now is the attacks have crossed the line in that they’re entering into Christian worship services, worship places, gatherings,” he added.
The increased attacks from far-right Hindu groups come as nine Indian states have passed so-called “anti-conversion” laws, which ostensibly are intended to prevent conversion from one religion to another by force. D’Souza and other critics claim the laws violate the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.
CANADA BANS ‘CONVERSION THERAPY,’ THREATENS THERAPISTS WITH PRISON
On Thursday, the state of Karnataka, which lies along the country’s southwest coast, became the latest to pass such a law. The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, was passed by voice vote in the state’s legislative assembly, despite large protests and chaotic scenes on the assembly floor, according to The Times of India.
One congressional leader ripped up the paper on which the legislation was printed, saying, “Their focus is only on the Christians.” Another denounced the bill as “draconian.”
Christian nuns wave placards as they march during a demonstration against the tabling of the Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill on Dec. 22, 2021, in Bengaluru, India. (Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
The law prohibits “unlawful conversions” from one religion to another by “misrepresentation, force, allurement, fraudulent means or marriage,” and also mandates that anyone seeking a religious conversion must notify a magistrate.
“It’s a bizarre situation,” said D’Souza, who predicted the law would lead to much more violence in Karnataka.
A report published Dec. 13 by the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) claimed that continuous talk from the government about anti-conversion law has emboldened anti-Christian vigilantes.
“It is clear and obvious that an atmosphere of fear and apprehension prevails in the Christian community and its grassroots religious clergy because of a systematic targeting through a vicious and malicious hate campaign,” said Rev. Vijayesh Lal, EFI general secretary, according to Ucanews.
‘Ongoing battle’
D’Souza, who noted that forced conversions are considered anathema in Christianity, sees the attacks against Christians as lingering expressions of India’s caste system.
“This is not ultimately about India’s Christians and Christian community,” he said. “It’s ultimately about the rights of the low caste and the untouchables.”
Noting the appeal that Christianity holds toward the outcasts of society, he said he sees the attacks as a concerted effort “from an upper-caste Hindu elite that does not want these people to exercise whatever rights they have, including the right to believe or not believe; to stay within the caste system or not stay within the caste system.”
A devotee takes pictures of the illuminated CNI Church ahead of Christmas celebrations in Ahmedabad Dec. 22, 2021. (Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images)
“And so, at a deeper level, this is the ongoing battle in India’s culture between the majority low castes, women, and the elite upper castes who don’t want to give their hold up on the masses,” he added.
D’Souza said he is appealing to Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and India’s home minister to address these issues, noting that religious minorities voted for him because he promised the country economic development and progress.
“We don’t feel this is progress right now,” he said.
‘Without any doubt’
D’Souza, who has traveled widely and would visit the U.S. every few months before the pandemic, also discerned that persecution against Christians is growing globally.
“Without any question and without any doubt, Christians are the most persecuted minority now in the world,” he said. “It’s never been so bad before as now.”
The archbishop pinpointed the persecution of Christians under Sharia law in Muslim countries such as India’s neighboring Pakistan as especially “unbelievable.”
PAKISTANI WOMAN ASIA BIBI SHARES STORY OF BEING ‘FREED BECAUSE OF JESUS’ 10 YEARS AFTER BEING SENTENCED TO DEATH
Despite what he described as “a rising voice within the democracies of the world against Christian persecution,” D’Souza wishes the U.S. and the West would do more, which he said includes seeing their own legacy in the proper light.
President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 24, 2021. (Sarahbeth Maney-Pool/Getty Images)
“The West, which has a Christian heritage, is terribly and unnecessarily apologetic about anything to do with Christians because of the history of colonialism and everything,” he said, noting that colonialism has been over for half a century. “They need to know they are now in 2021. This is another world.”
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He lauded the Biden administration for taking a stand against the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China. But he encouraged the administration also to attend to the plight of persecuted Christians.
“They have to look at the world and say, ‘What are we saying and doing about the Christians around the world? And what are we saying and doing about the Christians in India?’”
Former US soldier returns to Afghanistan, rescues Christians from Taliban
A former U.S. soldier said he’s brought at least 30 at-risk people, including Christians, from Afghanistan across the closed Pakistan border and was lashed by the Taliban for his efforts.
The Afghan native went to Pakistan about a month ago and illegally crossed into Afghanistan to rescue his family. Relatives hid around Kabul after the Taliban took over, fearing they would be killed for their familial connection to an Army staff sergeant as well as their own past work against the extremist group.
“They say on the news there is no U.S. soldier in Afghanistan,” the former staff sergeant told Fox News. “But I’m here, and I’ll help as long as it takes.”
“I’m a proud American soldier,” the Afghanistan war veteran, who was discharged after suffering traumatic brain injuries, added. “I’ve taken an oath, and I’ll never forget that oath.”
PENTAGON CONFIRMS NEARLY 450 AMERICANS TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN
Fox News granted the veteran and his family anonymity to protect them from the Taliban.
A U.S. soldier and Afghan native returned to Afghanistan to try to rescue his family from the Taliban.
Since returning to Afghanistan, the former soldier said he’s rescued Catholics and other Christians, as well as Hazara minorities, all of whom are Taliban targets.
“It feels good getting them out, saving them from the Taliban,” the former staff sergeant told Fox News.
He said he helped a family of 10 Afghan Christians escape.
He also helped a couple that recently converted to Catholicism and was “in danger because of their religion,” the veteran told Fox News. “Everyone in their neighborhood knew about it, and they started snitching on them.”
He said he and some Afghan nomads helped them illegally cross the border into Pakistan. The couple ultimately escaped to a third country.
“On my way back from this area, I got caught by the Taliban, and they lashed me on my back,” the former staff sergeant told Fox News. “I think it was only seven times, but had they known that I had actually just helped a Catholic family get out, it would have been worse. Far worse.”
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Meanwhile, the Taliban visited one of his family’s safe houses, forcing the family to flee through a back door. His journalist niece was injured during the escape.
“I had no choice but to come here myself after I learned that there was an ambush on my family’s house once more,” the former staff sergeant told Fox News. “I still haven’t heard anything from our government as far as any sort of assistance.”
“I pleaded for help from the U.S. government,” the veteran told Fox News. “I did not receive any.”
But getting his family from the Kabul area to Pakistan wasn’t realistic, the veteran said, noting that the family of six would have to pass through around 30 Taliban checkpoints.
After his interview with Fox News, the veteran said he successfully helped his family escape, though not to Pakistan. He also said they have 28 days to secure a passage out of the country they’re in or they’ll be deported back to Afghanistan and into the hands of the Taliban.
Fox News is not revealing the family’s method of escape or where its living to protect them from possible harm.
‘The fear from that day is still there’
The staff sergeant came to the U.S. from Afghanistan as a teenage refugee just days before 9/11. He joined the Army a few years later after meeting a recruiter and was sent back to Afghanistan to fight in the war.
But his enlistment endangered his family. Soon after the staff sergeant was deployed, the Taliban shot at his family’s home and later firebombed and destroyed half of it, the veteran said.
The Taliban firebombed an Afghan native’s family home soon after he joined the U.S. Army.
Years later, they beat his sister, an Afghan government employee, in front of her home. The veteran’s brother came out to help, but the Taliban turned their attack on him.
He still walks with a limp.
And after the Taliban took Kabul, fighters walked a neighbor through the veteran’s family’s home while the family was in hiding and seized pictures of them, including one of him in his uniform.
The family stayed in safe houses for over a month. For a time, the veteran’s niece, who was an outspoken critic of the Taliban before it took over Afghanistan, changed locations each night after the extremists walked her out of her newsroom at gunpoint soon after seizing Kabul.
LINDSEY GRAHAM DRAGS JOE BIDEN FOR BEING ‘MOST INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT’ AS AFGHANISTAN CRISIS CONTINUES
“If they find me, they will kill me,” the journalist previously told Fox News.
An Afghan journalist who says the Taliban will kill her if she’s found. She was recently injured while fleeing from her safe house after the Taliban arrived.
The staff sergeant said his friends guarding his family saw two Taliban fighters outside the safe house they were hiding in. The family was quickly rushed out the back, but the veteran’s niece was hurt in the rush.
“The injury healed, but the fear from that day is still there,” the former staff sergeant said, noting that she had chest bruising and what appeared to be a broken thumb.
The family has faced growing challenges as its time in hiding continued.
“My niece is extremely sick,” the veteran told Fox News. “We have brought five different doctors to see her. She’s being given various types of injections and medication, but she’s not getting better.”
“She’s depressed. She’s afraid,” he added. “About a week ago, she started stuttering … so we called a different doctor to come check her out.”
“She’s in really bad shape right now,” the veteran said.
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And, like many others in Afghanistan, the family was running out of provisions.
“And on top of that … they’re low on water, low on food,” the veteran told Fox News. “Even the kids have barely anything to eat at this point.”
“My friends who are watching her and protecting her, they too are short on food,” the former staff sergeant added. “Whatever they can come up with, they’re giving it to my family.”
Christians mark another pandemic Easter
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Christianity’s most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with the faithful spaced apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday marked by pandemic precautions.
From vast Roman Catholic cathedrals to Protestant churches, worshippers followed regulations on the coronavirus. In some European countries, citizens lined up on Easter for their turn to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
In the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolizing peace to each person waiting to get vaccinated. Many who came were in their 80s.
A soccer team in Lyon, France, opened its stadium as a vaccination center for the long holiday weekend. Some 9,000 people were expected to receive their shots there over three days as the French government tries to speed up vaccinations amid a fresh outbreak of infections.
In the Holy Land, travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites in Jerusalem during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations. Pope Francis lamented that the pandemic has prevented some churchgoers from attending services.
At St. Peter’s Basilica, the 200 or so faithful allowed to attend looked lost in the cavernous cathedral. Normally, thousands would be at the Mass celebrated by Francis, and more than 100,00 would sometimes assemble outside in St. Peter’s Square to receive his Easter blessing afterward.
But this year, as in 2020, crowds are banned from gathering in Italy and at the Vatican. Francis delivered his noon Easter address on world affairs from inside the basilica, using the occasion to appeal anew that vaccines reach the poorest countries.
The pontiff sounded weary as he noted that pandemic measures have affected religious holiday traditions and kept some faithful from public worship.
“We pray that these restrictions, as well as all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide, may be lifted and everyone be allowed to pray and praise God freely,″ Francis said.
In Syria, where a national vaccination program has yet to begin, churchgoers in the Lady of Damascus Church prayed for a way out of the economic and political crisis, only worsened by the pandemic.
“We came to the church for Easter so we get rid of the pandemic that we are in,” said Bassam Assaf. “Of course, we are not scared of coronavirus. It is the reality that we face, but it cannot stop us from coming and praying to God to take us out of this ordeal and help the world.”
A service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem was celebrated by the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land. That is the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. Israel’s successful vaccination campaign has allowed reopening of many places, including religious sites.
The pandemic kept Seville’s Brotherhood of the Holy Resurrection from sending its ornate Easter float, bearing a towering statue of Jesus, through the streets of the Spanish city. Instead, the Brotherhood posted videos and old photos from their last procession, two years ago.
Some Pentecostal Christians in South Africa canceled a three-day retreat starting on Good Friday. On the hills overlooking Soweto, a Johannesburg township, Apostolic Pentecostals gathered in small groups Sunday to mark Easter.
In South Korea, Yoido Full Gospel Church, the country’s biggest Protestant church, allowed only about 2,000 people to attend Easter service, or about 17% of the capacity of the main building. Masked worshippers sang hymns and prayed as the service was broadcast online and by Christian TV channels.
Intent on tamping down weeks of surging infections, the Italian government ordered people to stay home for the three-day weekend except for essential errands. Premier Mario Draghi’s government did allow one visit to family or friends per day in residents’ home regions over the weekend, which includes the national holiday on Monday.
Italy permits religious services in the pandemic if capacity is limited and masks are worn. But early on, the predominantly Roman Catholic country’s many churches were open only for individual prayer.
Hundreds of Catholics gathered in the mammoth Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Easter Vigil service Saturday evening. Every other pew was kept empty and masks were mandatory. Still, the solemn liturgy marked a new, hopeful beginning for the congregation after a turbulent year.
After all-virtual Easter services last year, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City was at half-capacity for Sunday’s Mass. Worshippers spaced themselves out in the vaulted neo-Gothic cathedral, which can seat more than 2,000. The choir sang through masks.
In Detroit, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church opened for in-person Easter services for the first time in more than a year, with capacity limits and social distancing rules in place. The Rev. Charles Christian Adams told the Detroit Free Press that people need church, especially after the congregation lost at least 14 members to COVID-19.
Tonee Carpio said physically being in St. Vincent de Paul Church in Austin, Texas, meant a lot to her after services last year were offered only online. She said being in church helps keep her Filipino culture alive in her city, since some prayers are offered in her native Tagalog.
“When you’re inside a church, you become more solemn, you can focus on God,” she said.
In Florida, Eastgate Christian Fellowship in Panama City Beach hosted its annual sunrise service on the beach. The church had to scrap the service last year because all beaches were closed. Pastor Janelle Green estimated that about 400 people participated.
Robin Fox of Palm Bay, planned to spend Sunday driving her mother to Orlando to get a second dose of vaccine at a Federal Emergency Management Agency walk-up site.
“She’s getting that freedom on the same day that (people go to) church to celebrate Jesus being risen, so I said (to her), ‘it’s kind of like you’re being risen also,’” Fox said.
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AP reporters from around the world contributed.
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Easter crowds return to Jerusalem amid Israel’s vaccine rollout
Jerusalem got an early Easter Miracle this week — the rebirth of religious gatherings, thanks to an aggressive vaccination rollout that’s led to a steep decline in COVID cases.
Thousands packed the streets Good Friday in the Old City’s Christian quarter for the Way of the Cross procession, where worshippers retrace the last steps of Jesus before his crucifixion.
Masked crowds were seen shoulder-to-shoulder as men lugged a replica cross through the narrow corridors.
“We feel more hopeful that things will become better,” Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa said. “The message of Easter is life and love, despite all the signs of death, corona, pandemic, whatever, we believe in the power of love and life.”
Easter church services were canceled last year in Jerusalem and across many parts of the world at the start of the pandemic.
Some sense of normalcy has resumed in Israel, where more than half of the population has been vaccinated.
Still, there are capacity restrictions for indoor Easter services, masks are required and foreigners still need special permission to get in the country, hamstringing tourism.
“It still feels like it’s not normal,” said Hagop Karakashian, the owner of a famous ceramics shop in the Old City. “The locals can celebrate, yes. But something is still missing.”
With Post Wires