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Holy Fire arrives in Moscow from Jerusalem

The capsule was delivered to Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral for the Easter night service that will be led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. A special flight carrying a capsule containing the Holy Fire that descended in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem earlier on Saturday has landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. In the terminal building, the capsule with fire was met by Vladimir Yakunin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St Andrew the First-Called Foundation and clergy.

"Amid a pandemic, the manifestation of the Holy Fire as a symbol of Easter, its journey to Russia symbolizes rebirth, gives hope and strengthens faith,"Yakunin said. "We have yet to comprehend what the world will be like after the pandemic. But it certainly will not be what we are used to. Let this Holy Fire become a symbol of renewal and change for the better," he added.

Yakunin noted that the coronavirus pandemic threatened the Holy Fire’s delivery. "This year, perhaps for the first time in a thousand-year history, worship in the heart of the Christian world, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, was threatened because of the serious viral threat that we all face," he said.

The capsule will be delivered to Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral for the Easter night service that will be led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Due to existing restrictions, the traditional meeting of fire at the airport with the participation of thousands of believers was not held, the Easter service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior will also take place without churchgoers. Transferring fire to other temples will be possible only after self-isolation regime ends. Earlier, a particle of fire arrived in the Krasnodar region.

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