In Pictures: Holy Sepulchre church opens on Palm Sunday

Worshippers attend Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem’s Old City amid COVID-19 restrictions.

In scenes very different from last year, Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre was open to the public on Palm Sunday, allowing Christians to attend mass at the start of Holy Week at the site where they believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected. With more than half the population of Israel having received two vaccine doses, coronavirus restrictions were eased to allow small congregations to gather with social distancing measures in place. The mood was celebratory as scores of Roman Catholics passed through the huge wooden doors of the church that is the global focus of the most important festival in the Christian calendar.