In pictures: Millions celebrate Orthodox Easter
Millions around the world celebrated Orthodox Easter last weekend. The celebrations and reflections are here captured in images by AP photographers… Men carry the “Epitaph,” the procession of Jesus’ funeral bier, into the sea in the town of Tolo, about 150 kilometres south-west of Athens, Greece, on Friday, 14th April, 2023. About 300 million Orthodox […]
Orthodox Patriarch marks Easter on Turkish island in fulfilment of promise
Gokceada, Turkey AP The Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, based in Istanbul, fulfilled a 10-year promise to mark Easter on the Turkish island of Gokceada where he was born. In candle-lit masses held over three days, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I presided over services that brought together Orthodox Christian believers from the Aegean island […]
Russia’s Wagner releases over 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war for Orthodox Easter
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, Wagner, sent at least 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war back to Ukrainian forces to mark Orthodox Easter, according to a video posted by the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Sunday. “Prepare all of them, feed and water them, check the wounded,” Prigozhin was shown saying in a […]
Christian faithful celebrate ‘Holy Fire’ under restrictions
Jerusalem AP Christian worshippers thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Saturday to celebrate the ceremony of the “Holy Fire”, an ancient ritual that sparked tensions this year with the Israeli police. In the annual ceremony that has been observed for over a millennium, a flame taken from Jesus’ tomb is used […]
Frontline cemeteries shut to Ukrainians for Easter over dangerous war debris
Kobzartsi, Ukraine Reuters Hundreds of cemeteries near front lines will be closed to Ukrainians wanting to pay their respects at graves of their relatives for Orthodox Easter this weekend, as officials fear the danger of land mines and unexploded ordnance. But in the formerly Russian-occupied village of Kobzartsi in the south-west Mykolaiv region, residents say they […]
In shadow of war, Russians and Ukrainians mark Easter in UAE
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates AP Hundreds of Russians and Ukrainians alike crowded into the only Russian Orthodox Church on the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday to celebrate the most important Christian religious festival of the year – far from home and in the shadow of a war that has brought devastation to Ukraine and international isolation […]
Far from home, Ukrainian refugees pray at Easter for peace
Budapest, Hungary AP Far from home and unsure when or even if they will ever get back, Ukrainians displaced by war gathered at churches across Eastern Europe on Sunday to celebrate the Orthodox Easter holiday in safety and to pray for an end to the fighting with Russia. Hundreds of believers crowded into the Church of […]
Ukraine marks Orthodox Easter with prayers for those trapped; Pope calls for truce
Kyiv, UkraineAP The sun came out as Ukrainians marked Orthodox Easter in the capital, Kyiv, on Sunday with prayers for those fighting on the front lines and others trapped beyond them in places like Mariupol. St Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv was ringed by hundreds of worshippers with baskets to be blessed. Inside, a woman clutched […]
Christian Orthodox spiritual leader says indescribable tragedy in Ukraine
Istanbul, TurkeyReuters Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, called overnight for the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine where he said “an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding”. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, leads the Easter Resurrection Service at the courtyard of […]
For Ukrainian Orthodox in US, war news casts pall on Easter
AP The rituals leading up to Easter are the same. The solemn Good Friday processions. The Holy Saturday blessings of foods that were avoided during Lent. The liturgies accompanied by processions, bells and chants. But while Easter is the holiest of holy days on the church calendar, marking the day Christians believe Jesus triumphed over […]