CNA Staff, Apr 6, 2020 / 12:00 pm
Unable to lead the traditional Palm Sunday procession through Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blessed the city with a relic of the True Cross on April 5.
The annual procession, which recalls Christ's entry into the city and the beginning of Holy Week, was cancelled in line with international efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with public gatherings and events suspended in Israel.
"We decided since we cannot have the palm procession, to have anyway a moment of prayer this afternoon," said Pizzaballa on Sunday. The archbishop led a short, multi-lingual "moment of prayer" at Dominus Flevit, a church located on the Mount of Olives.
The church, which is shaped like a teardrop, overlooks the city, and was built to mark the Gospel account of Jesus weeping as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem.