Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks today the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a day known in Bulgaria as "Krastovden" or the Day of the Cross.

A unique discovery was made by archaeologists at the site believed to be where Jesus was buried, in Jerusalem. Remarkably, it came to light in the most paradoxical way, as it was found by construction workers who simply turned over a giant stone slab covered with graffiti that was leaning against the wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The 'Holy Light' arrived in Athens shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday and is making its way across Greece to arrive in time for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ.

The Holy Light - or Holy Fire - was lit in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem earlier Saturday.

As is the custom, it was greeted at the Athens International Airport as an arriving head of state.

The Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III and other clergy celebrated Palm Sunday with a procession leading into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is believed to be buried. Fewer pilgrims attended this year due to the war in Gaza. [AP]

Thousands of Palestinian Christians and pilgrims from around the world filled Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday to celebrate the Orthodox Holy Light ceremony, under a heavy Israeli police presence that has drawn anger from churches.

Israeli police will curb the number of worshippers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for safety reasons during Orthodox Easter ceremonies on Saturday, drawing anger from church leaders who said they would not cooperate.

Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.

The Holy Light will remain in Athens and will not be distributed to churches this time.

The Holy Light, which arrives on the eve of Easter every year from Jerusalem, having been lit miraculously, according to Christian lore, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Israel is working with foreign governments and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Holy Land to make sure that one of their most ancient and mysterious rituals - the Holy Fire ceremony - is not extinguished by the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Friday.

A lantern carrying a flame lit in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher Church has been welcomed to Greece with honors reserved for visiting heads of state on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

But a senior cleric boycotted the ceremony, miffed that the holy flame wasn't arriving at the airport within his territorial jurisdiction.