Women at the sepulchre

In the heart of Jerusalem, at dawn, women first pass the gate of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. They are Latins, Orthodox and Ethiopians, they are witnessing today the dawn of hope that turned the cry of Mary Magdalene into tears of joy. Who were the women Jesus chose to announce to the whole world the news that would change his fate? What was and is today the role of these women in the Church, who are called to live next to the holiest place in Christianity? A journey in which the biblical story of the first testimonies of the Resurrection ties in with Christians of different faiths who today live in alleys of the old city of Jerusalem. Martha and Maria are nuns who live on the rooftop of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in a very poor Ethiopian monastery. Katia Surano, 47, the little sister of Charles De Focould: lives in the sixth station of Via Dolorosa and is a volunteer with elderly people of all faiths at Saint Louis Hospital. Amal Baddour, a Christian Orthodox mother of four, will tell us about the difficulties of teaching her faith in Jerusalem between the Jewish settlers next door and the Protestant sect. These women show the same bravery as the first pilgrims to whom Jesus gave the task of reuniting the missing apostles, as Father Alessandro Coniglio explains: bibliologist of Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, a special guide to these sites, texts, traditions of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus.