Christians mark Palm Sunday across the world

Hundreds of Christian pilgrims marked Palm Sunday in the Holy Land on Sunday, holding masses and processions retracing Jesus' triumphant return to Jerusalem.        

The day's events began with a mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher  revered as the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Several hundred worshipers and clergy lit candles and waved palm fronds in the dark, cavernous church.        

Later Sunday, the faithful were expected to march from the neighboring Mount of Olives into the Old City behind a white donkey, following Jesus' traditional route from 2,000 years ago.        
    
Israel's Tourism Ministry said it expects 125,000 visitors during Holy Week and 300,000 throughout April, when Jews celebrate Passover  a 5 percent increase from last year.

Separately, Pope Benedict XVI  kicked off the Catholic Church's Holy Week celebrations with Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square and good news from Cuba.
     
On Sunday, Benedict traveled into St. Peter's Square on the back of a white jeep at the start of Palm Sunday Mass, which marks Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem and inaugurates Holy Week.
 
AP