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Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theofilos III, center, takes part in the Palm Sunday mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Sunday. (AP)
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Pope Benedict XVI blesses the crowd gathered at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo in the hills overlooking Rome, Monday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press April 17, 2006 |
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Franciscan monks, German tourists and Philippine foreign workers crowded the Old City of Jerusalem's cobblestone streets and its ancient churches on Sunday to celebrate Easter.
Thousands of pilgrims packed the narrow alleyways of the Old City to mark the holiday - more visitors than in recent years, reflecting a downturn in Palestinian-Israeli violence that kept tourists away.
The Easter celebration capped a week of holidays, including Palm Sunday the week before and Good Friday.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, celebrated mass in the dark, incense-filled interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the spot where many Christians believe Jesus was nailed to the cross, buried and rose again. As the leading Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, Sabbah led black-robed priests into the church singing the Lord's Prayer.
Then the Palestinian-born patriarch lit worshippers' candles that gradually illuminated the painted dome ceiling erected in the Crusader era.
"This is like a dream come true for us to be here in the Holy Land," said Rona Arida, 29, a Philippine worker in Israel, after praying with her friends at the church that was built in the 11th century on the ruins of a 4th century sanctuary. "I prayed for all of my family back home."
Roman Catholics believe Jesus was buried on the site of the Holy Sepulcher, while many Protestant denominations believe he was buried in the nearby Garden Tomb just outside the wall of the Old City.
In the walkways of the Old City's Christian Quarter, Palestinian vendors sold Jesus figurines carved out of olive wood, painted Armenian pottery and fresh-squeezed orange juice. In one shop, a German woman argued loudly with the Palestinian owner - who answered her in Arabic-accented German - over the price of a necklace with a silver cross.
Nuns clad in black brushed shoulders with Orthodox Jewish women in long skirts and covered hair pushing children in strollers toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, part of the compound of the biblical Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
About 90,000 tourists are visiting the country for Easter and Passover this year, up from 20 percent last year, Israel's Tourism Ministry said. Jerusalem has been the scene of grisly suicide bombings during Israeli-Palestinian fighting that broke out in 2000, dealing a severe blow to Israel's tourism industry.
Violence has dropped drastically since a cease-fire was worked out in February of last year. Tourists, especially pilgrims, have steadily begun to return, even despite recent tensions between the sides following the Islamic Hamas group's victory in Palestinian elections in January.
In an effort to ensure a safe holiday period, Israel clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, preventing Palestinians from entering Israel. Christian Palestinian clergy with special permits were allowed to enter to celebrate Easter.
Easter falls during the seven-day Jewish holiday of Passover, when Jews celebrate their biblical flight from bondage in Egypt.
"It's special to be here now, where the Jews are celebrating Passover and the Christians are celebrating Easter," said Maria Andreucci, 72, from Rome, near a long line of tourist buses outside the New Gate entrance to the Old City. "Everything is so modern here, but in our hearts we can imagine how everything happened here so long ago."
Before sunrise Sunday, Yonas Grossman, 18, a German pilgrim, marched with hundreds of Christians in the traditional procession from the Mount of Olives into the walled Old City. Later the red-haired, lanky volunteer at a Jerusalem hospital went shopping in the Old City. He said he wasn't buying much because he didn't have enough money.
"At home it's the real Easter, but here it is really strange," Grossman said. "Here we didn't look for Easter eggs."
Later this week Orthodox Christians, who follow a different calendar than the Western Church, will flood the Old City's streets to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday according to their own tradition.
Pope, in Easter message, calls for negotiated solutions to nuclear crises
Pope Benedict XVI, in his first Easter message as pontiff, urged the use of diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises in a clear reference to worries over Iran, and prayed that Palestinians would have their own state alongside that of Israel.
On Christianity's most joyous day, which coincided with Benedict's 79th birthday, the pontiff also prayed that violence would cease in Iraq as he painted a bleak picture in much of the world.
From the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict reflected on the globe's hot spots shortly after he celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, which was packed Sunday with some 100,000 pilgrims and tourists on a breezy, hazy day.
On Easter, Christians celebrate a core belief of their faith - that Jesus rose from the dead following his crucifixion.
Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on April 23.
"Today, even in this modern age marked by anxiety and uncertainty, we relive the event of the resurrection, which changed the face of our life and changed the history of humanity," Benedict said in the traditional papal "Urbi et Orbi" message - Latin for "to the city and to the world."
Elsewhere in his message, Benedict made what was widely seen as a clear reference to recent developments in Iran which raised concerns across the world that Tehran might be working toward a nuclear arsenal.
"Concerning the international crises linked to nuclear power, may an honorable solution be found for all parties, through serious and honest negotiations," Benedict said, although he did not name any countries.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently said his country had successfully enriched uranium using 164 centrifuges, a significant step toward large-scale production of material that could be used to fuel nuclear reactors for generating electricity or to build atomic bombs.
Iran insists it only wants the peaceful use of nuclear power, but Western nations suspect Tehran wants to develop weapons and are demanding a halt to enrichment activities.
Concern over North Korea's nuclear capabilities have also contributed to tensions in Asia.
Benedict was interrupted by applause when he said of Iraq: "may peace finally prevail over the tragic violence that continues mercilessly to claim victims."
"I also pray sincerely that those caught up in the conflict in the Holy Land may find peace, and I invite all to patient and persevering dialogue, so as to remove both ancient and new obstacles," the pontiff said.
There has been heavy pressure from abroad on the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was elected in January, to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
"May the international community, which reaffirms Israel's just right to exist in peace, assist the Palestinian people to overcome the precarious conditions in which they live and to build their future, moving toward the constitution of a state which is truly their own," Benedict said.
The pope lamented that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region was "no longer sustainable."
He denounced the "deplorable scourge of kidnappings" in Latin America, where, he said, millions of people should have better living conditions and democratic institutions need to be "consolidated in a spirit of harmony."
As Mass began, a brisk breeze ruffled the pope's gold-colored vestments and the crimson feathers atop the helmets of Swiss Guards as he strode up the center to the square to take his place at a canopied altar on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.
Among the prayers read by faithful during the Mass was a wish, in French, that the pope receive a birthday gift of "serene" days.
The pope offered holiday wishes in 62 languages, and gave his blessing.
Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, died six days after Easter last year, and was so weak that he was unable to address faithful in the square, only raising his hand in blessing.
Benedict looked tired during Sunday's Mass. He had had only a few hours to rest after leading a long Easter vigil ceremony Saturday night in St. Peter's Basilica which lasted into early Sunday morning.
After stamina-testing Holy Week ceremonies, Benedict had time to rest in the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, a hill town near Rome, where he planned to give pilgrims and tourists his blessing on Monday at the start of a brief vacation away from the Vatican.
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