Western Christians celebrate Easter in Jerusalem

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Christian pilgrims from around the world on Sunday flocked to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem's Old City where many believe Jesus was resurrected after his crucifixion 2,000 years ago.

Thousands of faithful filled every nook and cranny of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a cavernous labyrinth of chapels and crypts built on the site where most churches believe Jesus to have been crucified and buried.

"It's great to be here where it happened," Manuella Anduku of the Philippines told AFP after attending the chaotic service inside one of Christianity's most revered sites. "It seems more real."

Inside the church, uneasily shared by several Christian denominations, the pilgrims pushed and shoved as they jockeyed for position to get a better view...