Pandemic puts worldwide ‘no’ in Noel
Bethlehem to Australia, muted holiday marked
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Bethlehem ushered in Christmas Eve on Thursday with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
Similar subdued scenes were repeated across the world as the festive family gatherings and packed prayers that typically mark the holiday were scaled back or canceled altogether.
In Australia, worshippers had to book tickets online to attend socially distanced church services. The Philippines prohibited mass gatherings and barred extended families from holding traditional Christmas Eve dinners. Traditional door-to-door children’s carols were canceled in Greece.
Pope Francis was set to celebrate Mass in a nearly empty Vatican service early in the evening as strict new curfew rules were going into effect.
Celebrations elsewhere in Europe were canceled or greatly scaled back as virus infections surge across the Continent and a new variant that may be more contagious has been detected.
In Athens, Christmas Eve was eerily silent. In normal times, voices of children singing carols while tinkling metal triangles can be heard all day. The decades-old custom, in which children go house to house and receive small gifts, was banned this year. Groups of children managed to honor the tradition by singing to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis by video link.
In Bethlehem, officials tried to make the most of a bad situation.
“Christmas is a holiday that renews hope in the souls,” said Mayor Anton Salman. “Despite all the obstacles and challenges due to corona and due to the lack of tourism, the city of Bethlehem is still looking forward to the future with optimism.”
Thousands of foreign pilgrims usually flock to Bethlehem for the celebrations. But the closure of Israel’s international airport to foreign tourists, along with Palestinian restrictions banning intercity travel in the areas they administer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, kept visitors away.
It was not the usual raucous Christmas eve in Mexico City. The big celebration was a ceremony where the country’s first coronavirus vaccine shots were administered.
On Christmas Eve, parents usually take their kids to a downtown plaza where actors dress up as the Three Wise Men or Santa Claus and pose in front of elaborate backdrops resembling the sets of popular children’s movies.
But this year, the Wise Men and Santas were banned. Mexico’s other grand tradition, Midnight Mass, was canceled in many parishes.