Thousands of Catholic Christians attend a special mass on the banks of the Jordan River in the annual pilgrimage to the site where faithful believers Jesus Christ was baptized.
“This is the first day (of pilgrimage) after the end of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Father Rifat Bader, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Jordan.
The annual event is limited in 2021 to priests amid strict restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Last year, 1,000 people were allowed to attend, Bader told a press conference before the ceremony at Al-Maghtas, or Bethany Beyond Jordan.
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More than 5,000 people joined this year’s mass at Christ Baptist Church, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital Amman, an AFP photographer said.
Before the ceremony began, dozens of priests filled jars by the river as scouts played music.
the blessing of the Jordan River
The priests then dipped their fingers in the water taken from the Jordan River and used it to bless the congregation, imitating the baptism of Jesus.
The Mass was presided over by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
“Today … we welcome to this sacred site more than 5,000 pilgrims from our cities, villages and Catholic churches,” Bader said.
The site at Wadi al-Kharrar is where biblical historians believe Jesus was baptized by his brother, John the Baptist, and began his public ministry.
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Other sites on the Israeli-occupied west bank of the Jordan River are also venerated.
A ceremony held at Wadi al-Kharrar in 2000 by Pope John Paul II was taken by the Jordanians as confirmation that it was the original baptismal site.
Christians in Jordan
The remains of several churches, a baptismal font and a sophisticated water reticulation system – some dating back to Roman times – have been found on the site.
In 2015, UNESCO added Al-Maghtas to the World Heritage List.
Bader said that “around 200,000” tourists will visit the site by 2022.
Christians represent six percent of Jordan’s Muslim-majority population of around 10 million.
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