Easter & Holy Week Fast Facts

Pope Francis speaks from St. Peter’s Basilica during the “urbi et orbi” blessing for Rome and the world following the Easter Mass on Sunday, April 5, at the Vatican. He lamented the suffering of people in conflicts currently making headlines and asked that bloodshed end in Iraq and Syria.

Worshippers hold umbrellas under heavy rain during the Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on April 5.

Easter horsemen ride near Luebbenau, Germany, on April 5. In the Sorbian residential areas of Lusatia, it’s an annual tradition for horsemen wearing festive attire to join the traditional Easter procession to announce the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the neighboring towns with prayers and songs.

Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers as she leaves the Easter Sunday service on April 5 at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

Pastor Ryan Marr holds DaShawn Murzyn, 7, after he was baptized during Calvary Chapel’s Sonrise Baptism Service on Easter morning in a park in St. Petersburg, Florida. The church has been doing the baptism service for 30 years and had 150 people signed up to be baptized in the bay this year.

Pope Francis holds a candle during the Easter vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Saturday, April 4.

A priest takes a photo as penitents stand during a procession of “La Soledad” in Madrid, Spain, on April 4. Hundreds of such processions take place throughout Spain.

Roman Taliafero, second from left, leads the sack race against Danny McCleary and Cayten McCleary, right, during an April 4 Easter egg hunt sponsored by People Uniting Neighbors and Churches, at Cork Hill Park in Davenport, Iowa.

A Catholic devotee portrays Jesus Christ during a re-enactment of the crucifixion in the Petare shantytown in Caracas on Friday, April 3.

Penitents of the Jesus Yacente brotherhood take part in a Holy Week procession in Zamora, Spain, on Friday, April 3.

Pope Francis leads the Way of the Cross celebration at the Colosseum in Rome on April 3.

A masked penitent from La Santa Vera Cruz brotherhood takes part in an Easter procession known as Los Picaos in the small Spanish village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra on April 3.

An effigy of Jesus Christ is at the center of a Holy Week procession on the beach in Valencia, Spain, on April 3.

A Christian in Mumbai, India, plays the role of Jesus Christ during a re-enactment April 3 to mark Good Friday.

Penitents hold torches during a Good Friday procession April 3 in Sorrento, Italy.

Catholics in Wonogiri, Indonesia, re-enact Christ’s crucifixion on April 3.

Penitents take part in the procession of the Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz brotherhood during Holy Week in Zaragoza, Spain, on Thursday, April 2. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during Holy Week.

Boys dressed as shepherds take part in the Children’s Holy Thursday Procession in Tunja, Colombia, on April 2. In this annual procession, now in its 55th year, children depict the key moments of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.

Children carry a platform holding a small statue of Jesus during a Holy Week procession in Antigua, Guatemala, on Wednesday, April 1.

A man carries away a sculpture of Jesus after it was paraded at a nighttime Holy Week procession in Puellaro, Ecuador, on Tuesday, March 31. The procession, called “Procesion de Andas,” is an annual tradition. Those who carry the heavy sculptures on large platforms inherit the responsibility from their parents or a friend and consider it an honor.

Penitents take part in a Palm Sunday procession in Pamplona, Spain, on Sunday, March 29. For Christians, Palm Sunday marks Jesus Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, when his followers laid palm branches in his path.

A homeless man begging for alms sits outside the Metropolitan Cathedral during a Palm Sunday procession March 29 in Managua, Nicaragua.

Nuns hold palm fronds during a Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem’s Old City on March 29.

A member of the El Despojado brotherhood takes a break from helping carry a platform with a statue of Jesus Christ during a procession in Seville, Spain, on March 29.

Nigerians participate in a Palm Sunday service March 29 at the Our Lady of the Apostles Catholic church in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Catholics pray on a hill with wooden crosses in Oshmiany, Belarus, on March 29.

A church volunteer carries an armful of palm fronds to be given to parishioners at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua on March 29.

Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City gather March 29 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.

Christians collect palm fronds for a Palm Sunday service in Secunderabad, India, on March 29.

Hooded penitents from the La Paz brotherhood walk to a church in Seville on March 29.