Jerusalem

Thousands gather for centuries-old Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem

People gather at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on the day of the Holy Fire ceremony, in Jerusalem's Old City. [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III arrives to celebrate the annual Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre church, a day before Orthodox Easter. [John Wessels/AFP]

A woman holds candles as people gather at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the day of the Holy Fire ceremony. [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

Christian pilgrims hold candles during the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where, according to tradition, Jesus was crucified and buried, in Jerusalem's Old City. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

Christian pilgrims light candles during the Holy Fire ceremony. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

The ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the 1,000-year-old rite takes place, was built over the site where Christian tradition says Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

The ceremony, when a flame which the faithful believe sparks miraculously each year is brought from the tomb, marks the most important event in the Orthodox calendar. [Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]

Clutching candles, so the flame can be passed from one to another, pilgrims attended the church this year in reduced numbers. [John Wessels/AFP]

In the past, about 10,000 worshippers would fill the church, with many more crowding outside, before the flame was flown to Orthodox communities internationally. [Jamal Awad/Reuters]

Christians comprised 18 percent of the Holy Land population - today's Israel, occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan - when the State of Israel was created in 1948, according to the Latin Patriarchate, but now they are fewer than 3 percent, mostly Orthodox. [Jamal Awad/Reuters]

Father Aghan Gogchyan, chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, stands outside St James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter of occupied <span>East Jerusalem</span>. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

An Armenian Christian priest walks into an alley near St James Cathedral. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

Armenians began arriving in the Old City as early as the fourth century, inspired by the religious significance of the city to Christianity. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

An activist fighting the Armenian Quarter lease fixes maps of the area on a wall inside a makeshift camp set up in a parking lot where the hotel is to be built. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

Armenian flags wave at a makeshift barricade set up by local activists in a parking area known as Cows Garden in the Armenian Quarter. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

The Rossing Center, which tracks anti-Christian attacks in the Holy Land, documented about 20 attacks on Armenian observers, Armenian private property and church properties in 2023. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

Seminarians at the Armenian Christian convent arrive for the daily afternoon prayer service at St James Cathedral. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]

The Armenians are one of the oldest communities in Jerusalem and have lived in the Old City without significant friction with their neighbors, centered around a convent that acts as a welfare state. [Francisco Seco/AP Photos]