Christians mark Good Friday amid lingering COVID-19 woes

Worshippers mark a second annual Holy Week under various movement restrictions amid outbreaks fanned by new variants.

Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the week leading up to Easter. The virus is still raging in the Philippines, France, Brazil and other predominantly Christian countries, where worshippers are marking a second annual Holy Week under various movement restrictions amid outbreaks fanned by more contagious strains. Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors.