Around the world, Christians commemorated Good Friday with solemn observances, both large and small. In Jerusalem, a procession wound through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus. Volunteers dressed as Roman centurions drove nails through the palms of Catholic devotees in the Philippines, in a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ. Hundreds of processions took place in Spain during Easter Week, including one in Valencia where worshippers flocked to the icon of the Santisimo Cristo de Salvador Friday to pray for those who died in the sea.
(43 images)
(43 images)
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Pope Benedict XVI, at right in background, presides over the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Good Friday in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2012. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. AP / Andrew Medichini
Hundreds of faithful participate in a Good Friday procession in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early morning Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Victor R. Caivano
Christians participate in a Way of the Cross procession which reenacts the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday during Holy Week outside Matriz de Pirenopolis church in Pirenopolis, Brazil, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Eraldo Peres
A man playing the part of Jesus gestures from the roof of Matriz de Pirenopolis church at the end of the Way of the Cross procession which reenacts the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday during Holy Week in Pirenopolis, Brazil, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Eraldo Peres
Actors playing the part of Jesus and a Roman soldier participate in the Way of the Cross procession which reenacts Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday during Holy Week in Medellin, Colombia, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Luis Benavides
A masked penitent attends a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Zipaquira, Colombia, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / William Fernando Martinez
Penitents participate in a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Moises Castillo
Penitents carry a statue of Jesus during a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Moises Castillo
Workers remove colored dust after its design was wiped away by a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, Friday April 6, 2012. The designs are made especially for the processions. AP / Moises Castillo
Young girls dressed like angels participate in the reenactment of the Passion of Christ during Holy Week celebrations in Alagansi, on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Dolores Ochoa
A woman holds an image of Jesus during a Holy Week procession honoring the Lord of Miracles, Lima's patron saint, on Good Friday in Lima, Peru, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Karel Navarro
People carry an image of the Lord of Miracles, Lima's patron saint, during a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Lima, Peru, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Karel Navarro
Female inmates reenact the Passion of Christ on Good Friday during Holy Week at the Ilopango prison in San Salvador, El Salvador, Friday April 6, 2012. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the life of Jesus, culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. AP / Luis Romero
A woman prays at a Good Friday Mass during Holy Week in the cathedral in Havana, Cuba, Friday April 6, 2012. Cuba's Communist government declared Good Friday a holiday to honor a request that Pope Benedict XVI made during his recent visit. AP / Javier Galeano
People pray at a cross during a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Ganthier, Haiti, Friday April 6, 2012. AP / Dieu Nalio Chery
A child carries a wooden cross in front of the the earthquake-damaged presidential palace during a reenactment of Jesus' crucifixion during Holy Week on Good Friday in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, April 6, 2012. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the life of Jesus Christ culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. AP / Ramon Espinosa
Christians kneel and offer prayers during a Good Friday procession in Jammu, India, Friday, April 6, 2012. Christians around the world are marking the Easter holy week. AP / Channi Anand
Indian tribal Catholics kneel as they pray at Jesus Hill during Good Friday at Dantilingi in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Biswaranjan Rout
Devotees reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to mark Good Friday in Gauhati, India, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A devotee enacts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to mark Good Friday in Gauhati, India, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Pakistani Christians carry a cross during a Mass on Good Friday in Quetta, Pakistan on April 6, 2012. AP / Arshad Butt
Pakistani Christian boys play next to a wall with biblical paintings, on Good Friday in a neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Muhammed Muheisen
Pakistani Christians attend a Mass on Good Friday in a church in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / K.M. Chaudary
A Catholic worshipper pauses after participating in Good Friday processions inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus Christ, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Bernat Armangue
Filipino Catholics portraying Roman Centurions nail penitent Jonjon Tanael to a wooden cross during Good Friday rituals, at the municipality of Paombong, Bulacan province, northern Philippines, Friday, April 6, 2012. Several Filipino devotees had themselves nailed to crosses Friday to remember Jesus Christ's suffering and death, an annual rite rejected by church leaders in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. AP / Aaron Favila
Ramil Lazaro is hoisted by volunteers after nails were driven to his palms in a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday at San Pedro Cutud, Pampanga province, north of Manila, Philippines, Friday, April 6, 2012. AP / Bullit Marquez
Worshippers surround the icon of the Santisimo Cristo del Salvador brotherhood during a Holy Week procession in Valencia, in the early hours of Friday, April, 6, 2012. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. AP / Alberto Saiz
A masked penitent from La Santa Vera Cruz brotherhood prays while taking part in an Easter procession known as 'Los Picaos' in the small village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Spain, Friday, April 6, 2012. Penitents, or disciplinants, take part on the procession lashing themselves with a mop of cotton as an act of faith and penance, a tradition dating from the early 16th century. AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Float-bearers, two of them barefoot, participate in a Holy Week (Santa Semana) procession on Good Friday in Ferrol, Spain. During such processions, religious statues are carried along on the shoulders of the cofrades, members of the lay brotherhoods that organize the processions. ZUMA24.com / Kiko
Pope Benedict XVI, center, presides over the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2012. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. AP / Andrew Medichini
The faithful attend the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession celebrated in front of the Colosseum on Good Friday in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2012. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. AP / Gregorio Borgia
Pope Benedict XVI, center, delivers his blessing at the end of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Good Friday in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2012. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. AP / Andrew Medichini
Faithful gather for the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession before the Colosseum on Good Friday in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2012. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. AP / Andrew Medichini
Thousands of believers remember the passion of Jesus Christ during Germany's biggest Good Friday procession in Wuppertal, Germany, Friday, April, 6, 2012. AP / Martin Meissner
An actor playing Jesus falls while carrying the cross during a performance of The Passion of Jesus in front of thousands of people in Trafalgar Square in central London to mark Good Friday. The actors come from the Wintershall Estate in Surrey. ZUMA24.com / Ben Cawthra
A worshippers lights a candle during Good Friday Mass at Krijtberg church in Amsterdam, Friday April 6, 2012. The Dutch Bureau for Tourism and Congresses expects some 850,000 tourist to visit The Netherlands over the Easter weekend. AP / Peter Dejong
The faithful walk through the streets of old Montreal during the stations of the cross on Good Friday in Montreal, Friday, April 6, 2012. The Canadian Press / Graham Hughes
Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, the Archbishop of Atlanta, carries the cross from station 1 to station 2 during the 32nd annual Good Friday Pilgrimage at Hurt Park Friday, April 6, 2012 in Atlanta, Ga. The pilgrimage visits 14 urban sites throughout downtown Atlanta, starting at the steps of the state Capitol and ending at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Crypt. Atlanta Journal Constitution / Jason Getz
A replica cross is raised above the crowd during the "Way of the Cross" procession across the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday, April 6, 2012 in New York. Thousands of Catholic believers participated in the Good Friday event, a series of representations depicting Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion in the final hours of his life. AP / Bebeto Matthews
Abel Martinez, portraying Jesus, has fake blood applied to his head in the basement of the Annunciation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church before he and other parishioners conduct a Good Friday procession to commemorate the Stations of the Cross, Friday, April 6, 2012, in south Philadelphia. AP / Matt Rourke
Members of San Luis Rey Catholic Church reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Friday, April 6, 2012 in in Cathedral City, Calif. The faithful followed the reenactment to the wash in Cathedral City Cove where it culminated with the symbolic crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The holiday is commemorated around the world. The Desert Sun / Omar Ornelas
A cross is lifted and passed over the heads of the congregation during the Veneration of the Cross during Good Friday services at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Sacramento, Calif. The Sacramento Bee / Manny Crisosotomo
Parishioners carry a cross to the congregation with the Veneration of the Cross during Good Friday services at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Sacramento, Calif. The Sacramento Bee / Manny Crisosotomo
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