The Holy Fire ceremony will take place on Holy Saturday, April 18, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem without the participation of pilgrims, after which it will be transferred to the capitals of the countries with large Orthodox populations, Akiva Tor, the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Bureau for World Jewish Affairs and World Religions, told Sputnik
TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2020) The Holy Fire ceremony will take place on Holy Saturday, April 18, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem without the participation of pilgrims, after which it will be transferred to the capitals of the countries with large Orthodox populations, Akiva Tor, the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Bureau for World Jewish Affairs and World Religions, told Sputnik.
"This is the decision of the Israeli government. We thought of how to do this. Usually, this is a ceremony in which 20,000-30,000 people from around the world participate. This year it will be a much smaller ceremony in which approximately 10 people will take part: representatives of the Church of the Sepulchre, Orthodox churches, the Armenian Church, the Copts, and the Syrian Orthodox Church. Photographers and cameramen will also be present at the Church to broadcast the Holy Fire to the entire Christian world," Tor said.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been quarantined together with other churches in the Holy Land. After the ceremony, the Holy Fire will be delivered by representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church to the Jaffa Gate of the old city of Jerusalem, where it will be handed over to diplomatic delegations, including one from Russia.
According to Orthodox tradition, the Holy Fire is a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter, in which a blue light emanates within Jesus Christ's tomb.
