The Burning of Judas is an Easter-time festival in many Orthodox and Catholic Christian communities, where an effigy of Judas Iscariot is burned. Though not an official part of the Easter liturgical cycle, the custom is typically a part of the reenactment of the story of the Passion that is practiced by the faithful during Easter. Customs vary, but the effigy of Judas is typically hanged (reenacting Matthew 27:5) on Easter Friday, then burned on the night of Easter Sunday. This article is about the Christian festival. ... The term Orthodox Christian refers to two Christian traditions: Oriental Orthodoxy, which separated from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in the 5th century; Eastern Orthodoxy, which the Roman Catholic church separated from in 1054 was the church that was started by the apostles. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ... For the American black metal band, see Judas Iscariot (band). ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ...

The custom -- known in Spanish as la quema del judio ("the burning of the Jew") -- was once widely practiced across Europe, and is still being practiced in parts of Greece, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Venezuela and elsewhere.

Judas Burnings also took place in the district of Dingle, in Liverpool, England in the early 20th Century. This seems to be an anomoly as there is no tradition of burnings either in the city or the country. Dingle (in Irish, An Daingean or Daingean Uí Chúis) is a growing town in County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland, on the Atlantic coast some 50 km west-south-west of Tralee and 80 km west-north-west of Killarney. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ...

The practice was once cited in the United States State Department's Religious Freedom Report for Greece as alleged evidence of anti-semitism in Greece. In response, Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, denied such allegations, stating that this practice refers to the image of "Judas the traitor" and not Jews in general. The incorrect reference to the custom has since been removed from the State Department report. The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Archbishop Christodoulos His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos (Greek: Χριστόδουλος) (born Christos Paraskevaides Χρήστος Παρασκευαΐδης on 1939 in Xanthi) is the prelate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece, a position to which he was elected in 1998. ... The Church of Greece is one of the fourteen or fifteen autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches which make up the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ...

External links

• Description of the custom in Greece
• Description of the ritual in Mexico

• Greek Orthodox church.
• Wikibooks:The Golden Bough/The Fire-Festivals of Europe