Holy Fire Arrives in Greece Ahead of Easter

The Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived in Athens by airplane on Saturday, ahead of Easter celebrations in Greece.

The flame was received with the protocol reserved for heads of state after Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem handed it to a Greek delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Amanatidis.

The flame will be flown to more than a dozen points around the country after being brought to Athens on a special flight.

Earlier, thousands of Christians gathered in Jerusalem for the ancient fire ceremony, which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection.

In a ritual dating back at least 1,200 years, they crowded into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday, where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Source: GreekReporter