Holy Light to arrive, stay confined

The Holy Light will remain in Athens and will not be distributed to churches this time.

The Holy Light, which arrives on the eve of Easter every year from Jerusalem, having been lit miraculously, according to Christian lore, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

It will arrive, as usual, at Athens International Airport at 6 p.m. local, by special plane from Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Κοstas Vlassis, said earlier Saturday. The Holy Light will be greeted as a visiting by Vlassis, the local bishop and a 15-member band. It will be transported to the Athens premises of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and kept there.

Authorities have banned church attendance this year, to guard against an outbreak of coronavirus infections.