Every day, between three and four thousand Catholic and Eastern Orthodox pilgrims queue to enter the Tomb of Jesus in the holiest site in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
One after one, these pilgrims share lip space with devout strangers as they kiss the stone slab, known as the Stone of Unction, on which Jesus was allegedly anointed. Many close their eyes as they do so. In May 2009, Pope Benedict himself, during his visit to the Holy Land, endorsed the practice when he was photographed bending and giving the stone a reverent kiss.
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