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The
Christian community around the world commemorate on Friday the Good
Friday, retracing Jesus' path to crucifixion. 
Pilgrims from every strain of Christianity crowded
the street of Jerusalem's Old City to
commemorate the Passion of Jesus the Christ. His submission to death
by crucifixion.
Groups from Russia,
Poland, Greece, the Philippines and Ethiopia followed the stations
of the cross along the cobblestone Via Dolorous, or Way of Sorrows,
the route tradition says Christ took from his trial to his burial.
This year, Easter Week is marked at the same time
by both Orthodox and Western Christians, which generally follow
different calendars.
Worshippers sand and carried icons, candles,
flowers and crosses as they walked along the alleys to the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, which is built over the sites where believers
say Christ was crucified and buried.
One group of about a dozen people, each wearing a
crown with thorns up to six inches long, carried a large cross.
Another group reenacted the Passion with actors playing the parts of
Jesus, Roman soldiers and the disciples.
The procession often ground to a halt as the
throng tried to turn sharp corners or pass through narrow passages.
Some pilgrims tearfully kissed the pillars of the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher as they waited to get in. Once inside, many wiped prayer
cloths across the Stone of Unction, where Christ was anointed for
burial.
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