Police: Thousands attend Easter ritual at important shrine
AP foreign,
Saturday April 26 2008
JERUSALEM
(AP) – Thousands of worshippers are crowding Christianity’s holiest
shrine to celebrate the Easter Week holy fire ritual, police said.
Hundreds of police were deployed in and around the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher on Saturday to control an estimated 10,000 pilgrims.
Greek Orthodox, Armenians and other Eastern rite Christians mark Easter
on Sunday, several weeks after observances by other Christian
denominations. The two groups adhere to different calendars.
On the day before Easter, Eastern rite churches mark the holy fire
ritual.
Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried where the church now
stands. The ritual is in honor of the belief that a holy fire appears
spontaneously from Jesus’ tomb as a message that he has not forgotten
his followers.