Church leaders in Jerusalem Call for Enhanced Security During Holy Week

Donald Binder, chaplain to the Anglican archbishop of Jerusalem, told Agence France Presse that Israeli forces in recent years have limited the number of Christians who are allowed to attend Easter services in Jerusalem’s Old City.

He said this practice is “clear discrimination” given that “tens of thousands” of Jews and “even more” Muslims have free access to their holy sites.

For their part, the patriarchs and heads of local Christians in Jerusalem called for more cooperation from Israeli officials.

“While we will persevere in these good-faith efforts, we ask the overseeing officials to work cooperatively and collaboratively with us,” they said. At the same time, they called upon the international community and local Jerusalem residents “to advocate on our behalf, in order to help secure the safety, access, and religious freedom of the resident Christian community and the millions of Christian pilgrims annually visiting the Holy Land — as well as the maintenance of the religious status quo.”

“We place our ultimate hope only in God,” they said. “For through Christ’s resurrection, we have the blessed assurance of the Almighty’s gracious providence through the Holy Spirit, a source of divine power that is able to sustain us today, just as it sustained Jerusalem’s first Christians those many centuries ago.”

Their message conveyed Easter greetings “from the Holy City of the Resurrection to faithful Christians around the world, both far and near.”

“It was from here in Jerusalem that the angel first greeted the women at the empty tomb, proclaiming, ‘Do not be afraid ... he is not here; for he has been raised,’” they added. “The fulfillment of God’s promise in the risen Christ has remained the Easter message. For just as Christ has been raised, so too have we been raised with him to a new life in the hope of that same resurrection.”

Citing the apostle Peter, they said that Christ’s resurrection offers us “a new birth into a living hope.” They closed with the proclamation “Christ is risen!” in multiple languages, adding “He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!”