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Coronavirus: Christians mark Good Friday in isolation

Churchgoers have been told to stay home and remember Jesus' suffering.

Christians are commemorating Jesus' crucifixion without the solemn church services or emotional processions of past years, marking Good Friday in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.
A small group of clerics are to hold a closed-door service in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. They will then walk the Via Dolorosa, the ancient route where he is believed to have carried the cross before his execution at the hands of the Romans.
In ordinary times, tens of thousands of pilgrims from around the world retrace Jesus' steps in the Holy Week leading up to Easter. But this year, flights are grounded and religious sites in the Holy Land are closed as
authorities try to prevent the spread of the virus.
Covid-19 causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly contagious and can be spread by those showing no symptoms. It can cause severe illness and death in some patients, particularly the old and infirm.
In Rome, the torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum is a highlight of Holy Week, drawing large crowds of pilgrims, tourists and locals. It's been cancelled this year, along with all other public gatherings in Italy, which is battling one of the worst outbreaks.
The virus has killed nearly 18,000 people in Italy and over 100,000 worldwide.
Instead of presiding over the Way of the Cross procession, Pope Francis led a Good Friday ceremony in St. Peter's Square without the public.
Ten people - five from the Vatican's health office and five from a prison in Padua, in northern Italy, where infections are particularly widespread - will participate in the procession, which will circle several times around the obelisk in St. Peter's Square.
On display in the square will be a wooden crucifix, famed for being carried in a procession during the plague that ravaged Rome in the early 16th century.
"We wanted to send a message of hope" through the ceremony, Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit told reporters this week.
"The message of hope is especially important for our compatriots at a time when we are particularly affected by the coronavirus, which is sowing anguish and death," he said.
Churchgoers have been told to stay home and remember Jesus' suffering through family prayers, fasting and by watching masses and religious shows on TV or online.