Israel Soldiers on Guard as Pilgrims Trace Jesus’ Route

Pilgrims singing hymns and carrying wooden crosses on Good Friday retraced the route that Jesus was said to have walked, from the hall in which Pontius Pilate pronounced the death sentence to Calvary, the site of his Crucifixion.

Squads of Israeli soldiers with automatic rifles and radios patrolled the cobblestoned streets of Old Jerusalem near the half-mile-long Via Dolorosa as the thousands of Christians passed.

Officials said the city’s hotel rooms were fully booked for Holy Week, which coincided this year with the weeklong Passover, which ends Monday evening.

Visitors From Dozen Nations

Pilgrims from a dozen countries wound past the 14 Stations of the Cross that commemorate events on Christ’s walk to Calvary.

“We are walking in the footsteps of Jesus because he paid the price for us to be free. All these people are here to share in the joy of his Resurrection,” said Mary-Ann Hinger of Anaheim, Calif.

However, some visitors objected to the commercialism, especially to shopkeepers and young boys hawking trinkets, film and religious souvenirs.

In the candle-lit Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Egyptian Coptic and Roman Catholic Masses were recited simultaneously on either side of the tomb from which Jesus is said to have arisen.

Outside, noontime calls to prayer sounded from the minarets of a mosque on the Muslim Sabbath. In the Jewish quarter, thousands of Orthodox Jews in black coats and fur-trimmed hats visited the Western Wall, last remnant of the ancient temple of Solomon.

Sevanah Meryn, spokeswoman for Mayor Teddy Kollek, said about 70,000 tourists have visited Jerusalem during Holy Week this year, compared to about 50,000 in 1986.

She attributed the increase to sunny weather and a decline in aircraft hijackings, hostage-taking and other Middle East violence.

In Rome, Pope John Paul II prepared for Good Friday services by slipping into St. Peter’s Basilica to hear the confessions of 12 Easter pilgrims.

Continuing a practice that he began in 1980, the Pope wore the black mantle of an ordinary priest over his white robes during the 80 minutes that he spent in a confessional box lining the nave of Christianity’s largest church.