Pilgrimage, prayer, pain on Good Friday

In the Philippines, seven penitents in the northern village of San Pedro Cutud were nailed to crosses in an annual rite that is frowned upon by religious leaders but has become a major spectator attraction. Dozens of half-naked men hit their bloodied backs with bamboo sticks in an atonement rite.

In his traditional Good Friday message, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land, appealed to politicians of all faiths to bring an end to the region's ongoing violence.

"What's happening now, in our Holy Land here, is believers in God killing each other in the name of God; Jews Muslims, Christians," he said. "We hope, we wish, for political leaders who will have the courage to go and find the right ways for peace."

Calendar convergence
The calendars of five major Christian faiths coincide with one another this year, something that happens only once every four years.

Clergymen of different Christian denominations, some dressed in colorful robes, filed early Friday into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The various groups, who have feuded in the past, put aside their rivalries and the ceremonies passed smoothly. At one point, Catholic and Greek Orthodox worshippers quietly held simultaneous prayers in different parts of the church.

In accordance with tradition, the church's doors were unlocked by a member of a Muslim family that has held the key for centuries.

Easter this year also falls during the weeklong Jewish festival of Passover, which brings thousands of Jews into the cramped Old City to worship at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

‘Faith ... can bring us together’
"Faith shouldn't necessarily divide us, but in fact can bring us together," said Catholic pilgrim Michael Murphy, a San Francisco native who lives in Paris.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said hundreds of police were deployed in and around the Old City to maintain order and protect all visitors.

Among the Easter pilgrims on Friday, some could be heard singing hymns in English, Latin and Hindi.

Slavko Stojic, an electrical engineer from Serbia, walked with three large crosses on his shoulders, which he wanted to have blessed before taking them back home.

The pilgrimage, Stojic said, transformed him.

"I'm now a full man," he said.

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