Fred Itua
I had my first opportunity to visit the Holy Land of Israel as one of the 2019/2020 pilgrims. The preparation started in mid-December when I was instructed to forward my passport data page. On Christmas Day, December 25, 2019, we were airborne and commenced a nine-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
However, before take-off, we passed through a brief tribulation. Officials of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) subjected us to unnecessary profiling. They regularly singled out intending pilgrims from some states of the federation and subject them to unnecessary embarrassing questioning.
A good number of pilgrims from Edo and Delta states, as well as a handful from the South East, were among the victims of this “ethnic” profiling by NCPC officials. Like others from Edo and Delta, I was subjected to this unnecessary humiliation before a former classmate came to my rescue.
As soon as NCPC officials recognise that you’re from Edo, Delta and a few other states from the South, you are in for it. They suddenly become hostile and hold on to your international passports. They will thereafter subject you to all manner of ridiculous questions that indicates their erroneous conclusion that every traveller from the aforementioned states is a potential absconder. The inquisition was embarrassing. NCPC must either end this profiling or officially blacklist pilgrims from these states they are biased against. That will put an end to this needless harrassment.
In the absence of direct flights to Tel Aviv from Nigeria, intending pilgrims either transit through Turkey or Jordan. This time, NCPC, which is the coordinating body in charge of pilgrimage, opted for Jordan.
Despite the biting cold, the journey was smooth and arrangements were perfectly in order. Upon our arrival in Israel on December 26, NCPC officials, in conjunction with their colleagues from FCT Pilgrims Board, offered the best services. The tour guides, though not Christians, had a grasp of everything and the lecture series went well.
According to office records, 2019 witnessed the highest number of pilgrims to Israel. About 4.5 million pilgrims visited Israel. That is more than half of the population of Israel. Pilgrimage is one of Israel’s major sources of income. The largest percentage of tourists come from the United States accounting for 19% of all tourists, followed by Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, Poland, and Canada. Nigeria is not listed as one of the 20 with the highest number of pilgrims every year.
During the exercise, fellow pilgrims became friends and family members. My roommate was a very good man called Mr Sunny Nwafor whom we often referred to as ‘headmaster.’ Other amazing people are Bishop Mike Akpami, spiritual head of Abuja pilgrims, Ify, Ruth, Alex and other pilgrims.
As for delicacies, I prefer not to dwell on that. By Jewish standard, the meals were delicious––but not so for us. Perhaps it was because we were expecting ‘Mama Put’ or amala joint in Israel. In all, the 2019/2020 pilgrimage to Israel was a good experience.
Holy sites visited
Stations of the Cross
The Way of Sorrows is the path that Jesus walked after he was sentenced, on his way to the crucifixion. The journey starts at the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, and ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Along the way, there are 14 Stations of the Cross, each commemorating a significant event in The Passion of Christ, with five of these stations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre complex.
Gethsemane
This is where Jesus prayed the night before he was turned over to the Romans and crucified. On the slopes of Mount of Olives, the garden has the Church of all Nations, and next to it is the Tomb of the Virgin Mary, the traditional burial place of the Mother of Christ.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
This church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City is where Christ was believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected. This is one of the most venerated sites and a major pilgrimage destination. The site has been identified as Golgotha (or Calvary). The church complex holds five of the 14 Stations of the Cross, the last places Jesus has walked. Inside are chapels and rooms with various objects associated with Christ, including the Stone of Anointing, where his body was cleansed and anointed after the deposition and right before burial.
Church of Nativity
This church in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem (in the West Bank), was built over a cave known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ. While inside, you will find an altar and a silver star, marking the exact place of the nativity. The original church was built on the very spot in the Fourth Century AD.
In Nazareth and Galilee…
Church of the Annunciation
According to Christian tradition, the church was built over Mary’s house, where the Mother of Christ was visited by Archangel Gabriel, announcing she will bear a son. It is built on two levels, each designed, and its position makes it quite visible from all parts of town.
Mary’s Well
The well is set inside a small church on Spring Square (Kikar Hamaayan), in the centre of Nazareth. According to some Christian denominations, this is where Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would bear a son, while she was drawing water from the well.
Mount Precipice
It is a couple of miles outside of Nazareth. It is the place where Jesus was rejected by the people of Nazareth, who tried to push him, but he leapt to the valley below. The mountaintop affords a good view of Jezreel Valley.
Tabgha
According to the New Testament, this is the site of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, where Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. There is a church that stands at the spot today over an earlier Byzantine church, right on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Capernaum
The New Testament tells us that Capernaum was the hometown of Jesus and that of several Apostles, and served as the centre of Christ’s ministry. The complex includes several churches, the most prominent being the Church of the Holy Apostles, with its five red domes. Also in Capernaum, are the two ancient synagogues – one dates back to the first century and is said to have been visited by Jesus.
Baptism Sites
Two baptism sites on the Jordan River attract thousands of pilgrims. According to tradition, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on their way to Canaan, and it is also the place where John the Baptist baptised Jesus and His disciples. The first is easily accessible on any visit to pilgrimage sites around the Sea of Galilee.
Mount of Beatitudes
Jesus is believed to have given the Sermon on the Mount here, on a low hill near Tabgha. The octagonal-shaped Church of the Beatitudes (to symbolize the eight beatitudes as described in Matthew 5:3-11), was built by the Franciscan Sisters in 1938 on the hilltop.
Mount Tabor
At 1,900 feet above sea level, Mount Tabor (also called Mount Tavor) is believed to be the site of the transfiguration, where Jesus took the disciples Peter, James and John to see an apparition of Moses and Elijah. Mount Tabor offers views of the Gilboa Mountains to the east, the Carmel Mountains to the west and the Golan Heights to the north.
Cana
It was at Cana of the Galilee, hometown of Nathaniel (later known as St. Bartholomew), that Jesus was said to have turned water into wine at the wedding of a poor couple. The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George was built in the late 19th century on the site of the miracle. It houses two of the six stone jars that followers believe Jesus used in performing the miracle.
Garden Tomb
Believed by the Protestant Christians to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Christ.
Church of St. John the Baptist
The birthplace of St. John the Baptist who baptised Jesus.
Wailing Wall
The Wailing Wall (or Western Wall) is the surviving retaining wall of Jerusalem’s First Temple. Commonly called the Wailing Wall due to the people’s laments for the loss of the temple in AD 70, it is now the holiest site in Judaism and has been a place of pilgrimage for the Jewish people since the Ottoman era.
The Jewish Quarter of the Old City runs roughly from the Zion Gate east to the Western Wall. This part of the Old City was destroyed during the Israeli-Arab fighting in 1948 and has been extensively rebuilt since 1967.
Mount of Olives
It is home to the oldest continually used cemetery in the world, the Mount of Olives holds particular interest to religious pilgrim travellers to Jerusalem. The sacred hill is believed to be the place where God will begin raising the dead on Judgment Day.
For Christian believers, this is also where Jesus ascended to heaven after his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. The Church of the Ascension on the top of the mount dates from 1910 and has the best views across Jerusalem.