Pope John Paul II, took part in Rome in the traditional torch-lit Good Friday procession commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, marked this year by a symbolical gesture towards the Jews.
As the Pope carried a replica of the cross from the First to the Second Station of the Cross, a text by the French Orthodox theologian, Olivier Clement, was read out reaffirming that Jews were not guilty of "deicide" for having called for the death of Jesus.
The tens of thousands of pilgrims present were called upon to meditate on the fact that Christians had "crucified" the Jewish people for centuries because of Church teaching blaming the Jews for the death of Christ.
It was not the Jews "but all of us, each one of us" who killed Christ, said Clement who was asked by the pope to write the meditations for this year's procession.
Clement (76) embraced the Orthodox faith at the age of 30 after successively dabbling in atheism, socialism and Protestantism.
The cross was carried for the most of the way from the Coliseum to the Forum by two Filipinos and by Italian, Burundian, Argentinian and Chinese students. Globally, well over a billion Christians celebrated the start of Easter yesterday.
The Pope heard Good Friday confessions at the Vatican while pilgrims gathered in a tense Jerusalem. In the Philippines, Asia's only predominantly Christian country, a handful of the devout submitted to brief crucifixions or flagellation in a symbolic expiation of sins that has become an annual ritual watched by tourists.
On the first day of a religious holiday that marks Jesus Christ's crucifixion, death and resurrection nearly 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, faithful flocked to the tense city.
Many more millions of Christians - those belonging to Orthodox churches across eastern Europe and Russia - were preparing to celebrate their Easter next weekend.
Three religious holidays converged in Jerusalem as Jews prepared for Passover and Muslims held Eid al-Adha prayers.
The Old City's narrow alleyways were lined by Israeli soldiers on alert.
The Catholic Church in Cuba, viewing Easter celebrations as a test of the legacy of the Pope's visit in January to the communist-run island, made what it called "moderate" requests for weekend celebrations.