Christians around the world celebrated on Sunday the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the most important holiday in the Christian liturgical calendar.
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The Trump administration has taken a new tack in celebrating Easter. On social media, several key Cabinet departments openly embraced the core Christian tenet of Christ's resurrection. The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department declared, “He is risen.” The Defense Department shared a post from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with a similar message. The Justice Department also chimed in. The posts sparked mixed reactions, with some people expressing joy and others criticizing the promotion of a particular faith by government agencies. Hegseth hosted a Christian worship service at the Pentagon last week, emphasizing military might against enemies.
AP Wire
Pope Leo XIV has celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff, urging peace through dialogue and calling for an end to conflicts worldwide.
Christians are celebrating Holy Week with processions and reenactments across the globe.
Good Friday is a unique — and uniquely solemn — day in the Christian calendar.
One religious brotherhood’s refusal to include women in its Holy Week procession has made front-page news in Spain. The country's Easter-time festivities are among the most fervently celebrated in the world. But the exclusion is the exception in the processions unfolding across the country. In Sagunto, the brotherhood’s members voted to exclude women and said their decision was based on “respect for tradition.” The news triggered protests from the government as well as in the streets. Holy Week processions in Spain are elaborate affairs that take months to prepare. They peak in the early hours of Good Friday.
Families wrapped their arms around freed loved ones outside Cuban prisons on Friday. The outpouring of joy from families comes the day after Cuba’s government said it was going to release 2,010 prisoners in what it said was “humanitarian gestures” ahead of Holy Week. The release comes as the Cuban government has faced extreme pressure and a crippling oil blockade by the Trump administration, which has openly expressed the desire for regime change and the release of prisoners arrested for protesting.
Good Friday is a unique and uniquely solemn day in the Christian calendar. Celebrated the Friday before Easter, it commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. This year it will fall on April 3 for Catholics and Protestants, and April 10 for Orthodox Christians. Across Christian denominations, worship service on Good Friday is unlike those on most other days. For Catholics, it’s the only day when Mass is not celebrated. Instead, the services on Good Friday include centuries-old, once-a-year traditions both during the liturgy and out in the streets, where elaborate processions and other rituals of fervent popular piety are held in many countries.
Catholic devotees across Latin America have marked Good Friday with processions and rituals re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus, from Guatemala’s historic streets to Ecuador, where hundreds of thousands took part in major processions. In Bolivia, President Rodrigo Paz broke with precedent by taking part in religious events despite the country’s officially secular status.
Pope Leo XIV carried a wooden cross for all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff. This marks the first time in decades a pope has carried the cross to every station. Leo says this act is a significant spiritual symbol, representing the suffering of Christ. The procession, accompanied by torchbearers, moved from inside the Colosseum to Palatine Hill, where Leo gives the final blessing. Around 30,000 faithful gather for the event. Leo will continue to lead Holy Week activities, including an Easter vigil and Easter Sunday Mass with the traditiona Urbi et Orbi address.