NEW YORK -- Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday isolated in their homes by the coronavirus while pastors in empty sanctuaries preached the faith's joyous news of Christ's resurrection.
Worldwide, families who normally would attend church in their Easter best and later gather for festive meals instead were hunkered down at home. Police checkpoints and closed churches left the faithful with few worship options other than watching services online or on TV.
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The strangeness of this Easter was evident at the Vatican. St. Peter's Square, where tens of thousands of people would normally gather to hear Pope Francis, was empty of crowds, ringed by police barricades. Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely vacant basilica.
In his address, the pope called for global solidarity to confront the "epochal challenge" of the pandemic. He urged political leaders to give hope and opportunity to the millions laid off from work.
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In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first major world leader to test positive for the virus, paid an emotional tribute to the country's National Health Service after his release from the hospital, saying its doctors and nurses had saved his life, "no question." He especially thanked two nurses who stood at his bedside for 48 hours "when things could have gone either way."
Johnson called the health service the "beating heart of this country."
Worldwide, more than 1.8 million infections have been reported and more than 114,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has more than 557,000 confirmed cases and more than 22,000 deaths.
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About half the U.S. deaths are in the New York metropolitan area, but hospitalizations are slowing in the state and other indicators suggest that lockdowns and social distancing are flattening the curve of infections. Nevertheless, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 758 people died in the state Saturday, the sixth day in a row the toll topped 700.
U.S. OBSERVANCES
Some U.S. pastors went ahead with in-person services despite state or local bans on large gatherings.
At the Happy Gospel Church in Bradenton, Fla., about 100 cars carrying 250 people gathered in the parking lot to hear Bill Bailey's Easter sermon. Some sat in lawn chairs or on tailgates, but families stayed at least 6 feet apart; those in their cars occasionally honked to convey agreement with the pastor's remarks.
In Louisiana, a pastor who is facing misdemeanor charges for holding services despite a ban on gatherings said people from every state and all but one continent attended his Easter service Sunday morning.
"My hope is not in a vaccine for a virus, but all my hope is in Jesus," the Rev. Tony Spell said during the service shown online at Life Tabernacle Church in the city of Central.
Worshippers could be heard clapping, singing and responding "amen" during the service, though it was not clear how many attended.
President Donald Trump had said he planned to watch an online service led by the Rev. Robert Jeffress of the Southern Baptist megachurch First Baptist Dallas, although the White House wouldn't confirm whether he did. The pastor, a staunch ally of the president, mentioned Trump in his remarks.
"We are going to get through this crisis with your continued strong leadership and the power of God," Jeffress said.
In their own Easter message, Trump and his wife, Melania, paid tribute to the medical professionals, first responders and other essential workers striving to combat the pandemic.
On March 24, at a Fox News virtual town hall, Trump had broached the possibility that the U.S. could emerge from widespread lockdowns by now. "I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said.
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"Wouldn't it be great to have all of the churches full?" Trump said in a subsequent interview. "You'll have packed churches all over our country."
Instead, most churches were empty, including St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who led a televised Mass, said he was pleased that congregants could have a virtual celebration.
"We miss you, though," he added. "We'd rather you be here physically."
In the morning, members of churches from across New York sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" from balconies and windows.
"Even if you didn't hear everyone, God heard everyone," said Kathy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, who helped organize the event online.
JERUSALEM QUIET
In Jerusalem, the dawn light climbed the ancient stone walls of the Old City on Easter Sunday as it has for two millennia; it was greeted with the iron peal of church bells as it has been for hundreds of years. But in a city that reveres the unchanging return of ritual, almost nothing else was normal on this holiest of Christian holidays.
Where the murmur of prayers and hymns of joy would normally fill the narrow lanes, nothing could be heard but the coo of doves. The clinking steps of five armed Israeli police officers patrolling the Via Dolorosa took the place of thousands of pilgrims who would normally ply the route of Jesus' final earthly walk.
For some, the unprecedented quiet brought an unexpected blessing: a chance to strip the day to its spiritual core.
"There are less distractions," said Peter Stavropoulos, a Greek Orthodox priest, with only his eyes visible between his black face mask and head gear. "We are able to concentrate on our prayers."
Signs in Hebrew, Greek and Arabic led almost no one to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the spot of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection, according to tradition. Easter morning is normally a time of mass congregation there, with believers from around the globe overflowing the cavernous gloom and filling the sunny plaza outside.
On this Easter, the plaza was all but empty, the towering wooden doors locked to a world frozen in quiet chaos.
Adeeb Joudeh, the latest of the Muslim family that has held the keys to the church for more than 800 years, said he unlocked the doors just after sunrise, not to admit the usual multitudes but just the archbishop of the Latin Patriarchate and two priests, locking them in. Their closed Mass was livestreamed to the shut-in faithful.
"There has never been a holy day as sad," Joudeh said.
MEASURES IN EUROPE
In Europe, countries used roadblocks, fines and other tactics to keep people from traveling over an Easter weekend with beautiful spring weather.
The Italian government said weekend police patrols resulted in more than 12,500 people being sanctioned and 150 facing criminal charges for allegedly violating lockdown measures.
On the hopeful side, officials said Italy recorded the lowest number of new coronavirus victims since March 19, with 431 people dying in the past day.
As hard-hit countries like Italy and Spain see reduced daily virus infections and deaths, economic pressures are mounting to loosen the tight restrictions on daily life.
Southern Europe and the United States have been the recent focal points of the pandemic. But coronavirus hot spots have been shifting, with new concerns rising in Japan, Turkey and Britain.
Uncertainties loomed about the months ahead, with a top European Union official suggesting people hold off on making any summer vacation plans.
Some European nations started tentative moves to ease their shutdowns. Spain, which on Sunday reported its lowest daily growth in infections in three weeks, will allow workers in some nonessential industries to return to factories and construction sites today.
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Information for this article was contributed by David Crary, Nicole Winfield and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Steve Hendrix of The Washington Post.
A Section on 04/13/2020