MOUNT OF OLIVES

Many Christians around the world flock to Jerusalem each Easter to try and relive firsthand the events written about in the Bible on what is the most important week and day on the Christian calendar.

Thousands of Christian pilgrims have taken part in Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem at the start of the Holy Week.

Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority says it is backing down from a plan to encompass Christian holy sites on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in a national park after vociferous outcry from major churches.

Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority on Monday said it was backing down from a contentious plan to encompass Christian holy sites on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in a national park following vociferous outcry from major churches. The Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem rises above Jerusalem’s Old City and its sites are holy to three monotheistic faiths. The Armenian, Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches petitioned Israel’s environmental protection minister, whose department is in charge of the Parks Authority, in a letter last week.

For a second year, Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday without the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter because of the coronavirus.