(April 10, 2009) Thousands of Christian clergymen, worshippers and pilgrims thronged
the alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City, chanting hymns and bearing crosses as they
marked Good Friday by retracing Jesus' final footsteps. Hundreds attended prayers
Friday morning at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christian tradition
says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Brown-robed Catholic friars filed into
the ancient church after its wooden doors were unlocked. They were followed by pilgrims,
some of whom fell to their knees to kiss a smooth stone believed to mark the spot
where Jesus' body was placed after he was crucified. Steps away, inside the church,
were the stairs leading to Golgotha, marking the site of the crucifixion. Nearby was
the structure marking the site of the cave where Jesus is said to have been entombed. Afterward,
Christians filled the stone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City in Good Friday processions
following Jesus' route to his crucifixion. The processions retrace Christ's final
journey down the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrows, where 14 stations commemorate events
that befell him as he was led to his death. Crowds pushed through the streets,
with some bearing wooden crosses. Some groups chanted hymns in Latin, while local
Christians sang in Arabic. A group of pilgrims from Orange County, California
performed an annual re-enactment of the events of Good Friday. A man dressed as Jesus,
wearing a loincloth and a crown of thorns, was taken through the streets by two men
dressed as Roman legionnaires. They were escorted by curious bystanders snapping
photos and a contingent of policemen, some of the hundreds of Israeli security personnel
deployed to keep order. The Old City was full of visitors of different faiths Friday.
The Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall was packed with people, many of them Jewish
Israelis celebrating the festival of Passover. One of the key dates in the Christian
calendar, Good Friday marks Christ's crucifixion and death, as recounted in the Bible.
It is followed by the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Orthodox
Christians follow a different calendar and mark Good Friday on April 17.