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Pope Francis’ delegate Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presides over the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on 19 April in Vatican City, Vatican
Christians around the world are celebrating Easter.
All Christians, from Orthodox and Western churches, are observing the holiday on the same day this year – not often the case because the churches use different calendars.
In Greece, the sky lit up with fireworks, while worshippers in Jerusalem lit candles at the church where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried. Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead, which is remembered at Easter.
Here is a look at how some have been celebrating the holiday as days of festivities culminate in Easter Sunday.
Image source, EPA
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Pope Francis waves to the faithful after the Urbi et Orbi blessing following the Easter Mass in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City
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Palestinian Christians light candles during the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to be the place Jesus was crucified and was buried, in Jerusalem’s Old City.
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People wait to have their baskets of Easter cakes blessed outside a church in Lviv, Ukraine
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Christian children march in a parade to celebrate Easter amid security measures in Damascus, Syria
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In Kenya’s capital Nairobi, members of the Legio Maria Church gather at Africa Church Mission to mark Easter Sunday
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Turkish Christians gather at the Greek Orthodox Church in Mersin for the Easter Sunday service
Image source, Reuters
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Orthodox faithful attend a Easter Sunday Mass at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday
Image source, Reuters
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People dressed in traditional clothes remove the covers from Easter baskets during a service in Maramures, Breb, Romania
Image source, Reuters
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A woman dressed in traditional clothes of the Sorbs, a Slavic ethnic minority, sings near the church in Schleife, eastern Germany, on Easter Sunday
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The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman catholic church, cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, leads an Easter Vigil at the Cathedral of St. Lucia in Colombo on Saturday
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In Bethlehem, West Bank, Orthodox Christians gather at the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus is believed to have been born
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Nepalese Catholics hold candles as they stand during the Easter Vigil in Lalitpur
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An Orthodox priest delivers a sermon to parishioners during the Easter service before blessing Easter cakes and eggs placed on tables in a St Petersburg church in Russia
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Near Mosul in Iraq, a service in under way at the Mar Yohanna Church
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In France’s Notre Dame, the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich leads the cathedral’s first Easter celebrations since it reopened after a fire
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An image of Christ resurrected is carried by women during the Resurrection Sunday procession in Toledo, central Spain
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The Fatima Church in Islamabad, Pakistan saw devotees in prayer for Easter
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In Vrontados, Greece, the sky is lit up with fireworks during a traditional Easter “rocket war”
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Coptic Orthodox Christians in Cairo, Egypt gather at the Monastery of Saint Simon the Tanner
