Christians in Karachi celebrate Easter, the day Jesus was resurrected. The Pakistani police foiled a plan to bomb a Easter celebration on Saturday. AP/PTI
Christians in Karachi celebrate Easter, the day Jesus was resurrected. The Pakistani police foiled a plan to bomb a Easter celebration on Saturday. AP/PTI
Pope Francis presided over the solemn late-night ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica at a time of heightened security fears following a spate of Islamic-inspired attacks and tensions over Europe’s migrant influx. Reuters
Security was particularly tight, part of the heavier-than-usual safety measures that have been deployed around the world for Holy Week activities, particularly following the twin Palm Sunday attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt that killed at least 45 people. Reuters
Saturday’s late-night service came just hours after Francis presided over the evocative torch-lit Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum, where he repeatedly denounced the “shame” of the blood spilled by innocent children, women and migrants in the world’s conflicts, shipwrecks and other tragedies. Reuters
Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, conducts the Orthodox Easter service at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with his wife Svetlana attend the Patriarchal Easter service in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral at midnight. Reuters
Iraqi Christians attend an Easter celebration at St.George Chaldean Church in Baghdad.With Islamic State expelled, Iraqi Christians are trickling back to the ransacked town of Qaraqosh, beset by anxiety for their security and yet hopeful they can live in friendship with Muslims of all persuasions. Reuters
It is believed that one must bake something on Easter, as the comforting smell of fresh baking at Easter heralds the arrival of newness and lifts the spirits after Lent. Reuters
Christians consider eggs to be “the seed of life” and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Children wake up to find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy and also hunt for eggs all around the house. Reuters