AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In Jerusalem, a somber Easter. Usually, it would be teeming with Christian faithful and pilgrims from around the world, visiting during Holy Week. But this year, Israeli authorities have tight war restrictions on the walled Old City. NPR's Carrie Kahn is in Jerusalem and brings us this report.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: About a dozen priests and others are the only ones praying inside Christianity's treasured Church of the Holy Sepulchre this Holy Week. The rest of the world watches on videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PRIEST: (Singing) Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
KAHN: Like this one, posted on the Latin Patriarchate social media account. Israeli police had stopped Jerusalem's highest Catholic official, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Palm Sunday from entering the church, citing safety restrictions. After worldwide criticism, a small number have been allowed back into the site where it's believed Jesus died and was resurrected.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS TOLLING)
RASCOE: The bells of the church, standing in the heart of the Christian quarter since the fourth century, still ring out. But the faithful can't get close. Police are posted at all gates to the Old City, only allowing in residents and select visitors.
UNIDENTIFIED NUNS: (Singing in non-English language).
KAHN: Three nuns from Latin America sing softly along the nearly empty Via Dolorosa, where Jesus is believed to have walked carrying a cross before his crucifixion.
UNIDENTIFIED NUN: (Praying in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED NUNS: (Praying in non-English language).
KAHN: Stopping at each of the 14 stations along this narrow cobblestone street, they say a quiet prayer. Usually, tens of thousands of pilgrims make this walk. Police say ambulance or rescue workers would not be able to reach large crowds if an Iranian missile were to fall. Palestinian, Christian and lifelong Jerusalem resident Hafeez Said (ph) says the restrictions are hurting his city, which needs peace.
HAFEEZ SAID: We are praying for that. There's nothing in our hand to do. It's a war, and we are sad about that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SWEEPING)
KAHN: His son sweeps the family's small electronic shop. Business is down 70%, he says, and on top of that income loss, he and other family members usually rent out rooms to pilgrims. Easter isn't the same without them, he says.
SAID: We are missing these days and was more beautiful. But we hope that this return back soon.
KAHN: Not too soon, say police, who've imposed restrictions on all the major religious sites. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is closed to just a small number of staff, and 50 worshippers at a time have been allowed into Judaism's Western Wall. Despite the new rules, the church lives on, says Israeli Christianity expert Yisca Harani. She says since its first construction in 335, it has withstood multiple conflicts and rulers.
YISCA HARANI: All these conquerors and all these occupiers keep changing (laughter), but the church keeps on, and this is really quite an amazing phenomenon.
KAHN: She says one maniacal ruler, al-Hakim, did order its destruction in 1010. Reconstruction took place in the 11th and 12th centuries, and it has survived even modern wars, save some roof damage in the 1948 war when Israel declared independence. She says the church is resilient.
HARANI: This is no museum. It's a living church. It is the pulse of the faith of Christians in the city of Jerusalem.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: For now, Christian residents gather elsewhere in the old city's other churches, which are open.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Singing in non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language spoken).
KAHN: Like at Saint Saviour's Church, just steps from the new gate entrance to the Old City. Lourd Shaheen (ph), a university nutrition student, says she, of course, misses the vibrancy and crowds that Easter brings to her city, but she says the quiet makes for deeper reflection.
LOURD SHAHEEN: We're just focusing now on Jesus, and that's the best, like, I think.
KAHN: And praying hard the war ends, says Jerusalem's auxiliary bishop, William Shomali.
WILLIAM SHOMALI: We intensify our prayer for peace for the politicians so that they may take another way, change their mind and choose the way of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.
KAHN: This pays off more, he says, than violence.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Jerusalem. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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