JERUSALEM (AP) _ Christians from around the world have opened Holy Week by celebrating Palm Sunday in Jerusalem — singing hymns and bearing palm fronds to commemorate Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into the holy city 2,000 years ago.

Pilgrims and local Christians flocked to Jerusalem’s Old City to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is traditionally held to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Others celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem — the town of Jesus’ birth — and in the Gaza Strip, which is home to a small Palestinian Christian population.

This year, the Holy Week leading up to Easter is being celebrated at the same time by Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians.