On April 1, Pope Francis held an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican. During his traditional Easter appeal to "the city and the world," he called for an end to the war in the Middle East. During the Good Friday prayer, the Pontiff spoke out about the persecution of Christians around the world.
Orthodox Christians celebrated Palm Sunday on April 1. They have Easter this year a week later than Catholics and Protestants, on April 8.
In Jerusalem, the main mass took place in the church of the tomb of the Lord. The procession and service were headed by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem.
Participants of the solemn procession in Malta carry a statue of Christ.
The Spanish royal family spent Easter in Mallorca in the cathedral of Palma where King Felipe and Queen Letizia came with their daughters. The king and the queen traditionally greeted thousands of people who came to worship.
In Madrid, a traditional Easter procession took place on that day.
The Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, together with her family visited the Easter service in Windsor.
In Ralbitz, Germany, there was a traditional Easter cavalcade, a horse procession of sorbs (local Slavs). This tradition dates back to pre-Christian times: the peasants travel to their land allotments in early spring, thus committing a ritual of exiling evil spirits of winter from the fields.
In Hungary, according to the Easter tradition, locals dress up in national costumes. Young people shower girls with water, and they give them beautifully painted eggs.
The first US family held a festival of eggs. This tradition appeared back in 1978. Children rolled eggs with a special wooden spoon on the lawn near the White House. There also were other entertainments - a zone for decorating eggs and pies, a tennis court, a wall for coloring and a children's game, according to the rules of which you need to find hidden eggs. This year for the first time, on the initiative of Melanie Trump, bowling was added.
Chocolate Easter eggs made by a Belgian confectioner Dominique Persoone in Antwerp.
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