JERUSALEM (AP) -- Some in agony, others in ecstasy, Christians around the world marked Good Friday with prayer, processions and pleas for peace.
The calendars of five major Christian faiths coincide with one another this year, something that happens only once every four years.
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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.