Orthodox Christians — 300 million worldwide — are observing Easter, their biggest holiday, this weekend.
It’s a time when churches are full, their bells ringing as parishioners embrace and kiss after singing Christ Is Risen at the stroke of midnight on Holy Saturday. Blood-red eggs are cracked, and lambs are roasted as part of a giant family feast. There’s even dancing.
But the coronavirus pandemic has shut down those celebrations in many Orthodox Christian countries, including Greece, Romania and Serbia. This year, worshippers may not even light candles from the “Holy Fire,” the flame from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem that’s flown in from Israel.
“This Easter is different. We will not go to our villages, we will not roast in our yards, we will not go to our churches. And of course, we will not gather in the homes of relatives and friends,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters on Friday. “For us to continue being together, this year we stay apart.”
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