Israel wants to limit the presence of Christians in the holy city

Every spring a miracle occurs in the Holy Land. The Holy Spirit lights a candle in a small room in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. There, divine action lights a fire over what is believed to have been the tomb of Jesus. The Greek Orthodox patriarch and his Armenian counterpart share this flame with hundreds of candles and torches that illuminate the church, reaching other chapels in the Holy Land and other places with an Orthodox presence. But this year, the restrictions of the Israeli authorities have blown with such force that they have snuffed out the flame for the Palestinian Christian community on its holiest days. The Orthodox Easter celebration has been marred by the longstanding strategy of the Israeli authorities to expel Christians from Jerusalem.