Jerusalem’s Old City was alive with the faithful last week as Christians from around the world traced Jesus’s footsteps along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Pilgrims carried wooden crosses through the ancient streets; brown-robed Franciscan friars chanted prayers and explained the 14 Stations of the Cross through a megaphone. There were even men dressed up as Roman soldiers.
Groups of pilgrims from every continent danced, prayed in 100 different languages, and walked together in peace.
Good Friday began with Mass at the Holy Sepulcher church, built on the spot where tradition holds Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, on the site of Jesus’ birth.
Israel’s Tourism Ministry said it expected 150,000 visitors of all faiths during Easter week and the Jewish festival of Passover, which coincide.
Easter is the only Christian holiday based on the lunar calendar, as Passover and all Jewish holidays are. The Last Supper was a Passover seder.
