Christians from around the world mark Easter Sunday at Jerusalem holy site

AP Worldstream; Apr 16, 2006
ARON HELLER

Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world gathered on
Sunday at Jerusalem holy sites to celebrate Easter Sunday, marking the
day with prayer and hymns.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, the top Roman
Catholic official in the Holy Land, celebrated Mass at the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, built over the skull-shaped rocky mount believed
to be the place where Jesus was crucified.

Easter Sunday marks the resurrection of Jesus and caps holy week,
which includes Palm Sunday, when Jesus return to Jerusalem, and Good
Friday, which marks his crucifixion. Thousands filled the narrow
streets of the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday as well, retracing the
route that Jesus followed on his way to the crucifixion.

On Sunday, Armenian priests cloaked in black gowns and head dress
followed Sabbah into the candlelit church singing the Lord’s
Prayer. The Catholic priest emerged from the Sepulcher with a flame
and lit worshippers’ candles that gradually illuminated the painted
dome ceiling erected in the Crusader era.

Worshippers crowded into the grotto-like church as organs played
solemn tunes. Outside, the masses, including some from Serbia, Greece
and England, marched past droves of pictures of Jesus on a cloudy,
overcast day.

Crowds were larger than in recent years, encouraged by a relative lull
in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Although police did not have an exact crowd size for the Easter Sunday
celebrations, the Israeli Tourism Ministry said 90,000 tourists are
visiting the country for Easter and the Jewish holiday of Passover
this year, up 20 percent from last year.

Israel’s tourist economy suffered during the Palestinian uprising,
which erupted in late 2000. But the flow of visitors has steadily
increased since a cease-fire was declared in early 2005, despite
recent tensions between the sides following Hamas’ victory in
Palestinian legislative elections.

The Easter services underlined one of Christianity’s doctrinal
differences: Roman Catholics believe Jesus Christ was buried in the
Holy Sepulcher, while many Protestant denominations believe he was
buried in the nearby Garden Tomb.

There will be other processions through the Old City this week when
Orthodox Christians, who follow a different calendar than the Western
Church, celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday according to their own
tradition.