In pictures: Easter around the world

Christians around the world celebrate the week leading up to Easter Sunday

In the run-up to Easter, Christians observed the 'Holy Week' with processions, prayers and re-enactments to commemorate the last week of Jesus Christ's life. Easter Sunday, which marks the resurrection of Christ was celebrated on April 16.

Here we look at some of the highlights during the week leading up to Easter Sunday.

Catholics carry a statue of Jesus Nazareno in a procession known as Jesus Nazareno of the tapes during Holy Week in Cot, Costa Rica, 25 kilometres east of San Jose. According to Jorge Masis, a priest at the church, people tie ribbons to the statue to symbolise promises they make to Jesus during Holy Week. PHOTO: AFP

Penitents wear masks and centurion costumes during a local Lenten ritual called "Moriones" in Mogpog, Marinduque, Philippines. PHOTO: REUTERS

Latin Catholic clergymen hold candles as they circle the Anointing Stone during the Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. PHOTO: REUTERS

Catholics take part in a procession during a Palm Sunday celebration in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. PHOTO: REUTERS

An actor dressed as a demon participates a ceremony known as Los Talciguines, as part of religious activities to mark the start of Holy Week in Texistepeque, El Salvador. PHOTO: REUTERS

A sand sculpture that depicts Jesus Christ is pictured during Holy Week celebrations in the Arenal de Cochiraya, on the outskirts of Oruro, Bolivia. PHOTO: REUTERS

Penitents members of the "Real Hermandad del Santisimo Cristo de las Injurias" parade during the "Silence" procession during Holy Week in the northwestern Spanish city of Zamora. PHOTO: AFP

A woman walks past giant egg decorations set up in the center of Moscow, days ahead of Russian Orthodox Easter celebrations. This year's Orthodox Easter falls. PHOTO: AFP

Worshippers hold candles as they take part in the Christian Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. PHOTO: REUTERS

Girls dressed in traditional costumes run as men throw water on them as part of Easter celebrations in Mezokovesd, Hungary. PHOTO: REUTERS

Villagers from Copaciu light fires at the village cemetery, three days before the celebration of Orthodox Easter. According to popular belief, fires lit on Thursday help the souls of the dead to return to visit their homes and relatives. PHOTO: AFP

A child poses for a picture during a re-enactment of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) for Catholic children in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. PHOTO: REUTERS

Pakistani Christians attend a Good Friday service at Saint Peter's Catholic Church in Karachi. PHOTO: REUTERS

Pakistani Christians attend a Good Friday service at a church in Lahore. PHOTO: REUTERS

A woman looks at huge Easter eggs as they walk in the open air festival in the centre of Kiev. PHOTO: AFP

An actor portrays the crucified Jesus Christ during the interactive street-theatre Passion play "Il-Mixja" (The Way), one of a series of Holy Week activities in the run-up to Easter, in the grounds of Verdala Palace outside Rabat, Malta. PHOTO: REUTERS

Penitents of "La Estrella" (The Star) brotherhood take part in a procession during Holy Week in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain. PHOTO: REUTERS

Cypriot youths watch a bonfire where an effigy of Judas Iscariot was burned, on Easter Saturday after midnight in the old city of the capital Nicosia. PHOTO: AFP

Father Venediktos Ioannou (C), Archimandrite of the Cypriot Orthodox Church of Faneromeni in the old city of Nicosia, lights up candles for other worshippers outside the altar in preparation for the Easter Saturday vigil after midnight. PHOTO: AFP

Locals people grill lambs in the town of Livadia, north of Athens, during a traditional celebrations of the Orthodox Easter. PHOTO: AFP

Fireworks explode over the Temple of Appolon in the villge of Ancient Corinth during the traditional celebrations of the Orthodox Easter. PHOTO: AFP

A Syriac Christian girl smiles during a service marking Easter Sunday at the Church of Saint Ephrem in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli. PHOTO: AFP

Pope Francis during the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing for Rome and the world from the central loggia of St Peters' basilica following the Easter Sunday mass in Vatican. PHOTO: AFP

Pope Francis greets the crowd from the popemobile during the Easter Sunday mass at St Peter's square in Vatican. Christians around the world are marking the Holy Week, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, leading up to his resurrection on Easter. PHOTO: AFP

Swiss Guards parade before the Easter Sunday mass at St Peter's square in Vatican. PHOTO: AFP

City residents take an Easter Sunday dip in the polluted waters of Manila Bay to beat the scorching heat. PHOTO: AFP

Pakistani Christians attend the Easter Sunday service at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Lahore. PHOTO: AFP

A Pakistani policeman stands guard during the Easter Sunday service at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Lahore. PHOTO: AFP

Sorbian men dressed in black tailcoats ride decorated horses during an Easter rider procession near Panschwitz, Germany. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers hold candles during the Holy Fire ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. PHOTO: REUTERS

A man wears a of mask of US President Donald Trump during the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival along 5th avenue in New York, US. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ethiopian Orthodox faithful attend the easter eve prayers at the Medhane Alem church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PHOTO: REUTERS

Greek-Catholic believers visit the graves of their loved ones to pay homage to them on the day of Easter in the township of Pustomyty, Ukraine. PHOTO: REUTERS

Believers take part in the Easter Mass in Mar Gewargis (St George) Chaldean Catholic church, which was damaged by Islamic State militants, in the town of Tel Esqof, Iraq. PHOTO: REUTERS

Believers take part celebrations after the Easter Mass in Mar Gewargis (St George) Chaldean Catholic church, which was damaged by Islamic State militants, in the town of Tel Esqof, Iraq. PHOTO: REUTERS

An old man walks past members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Loreto before other members run across a square carrying the statue of Madonna che Scappa (The Madonna Who Runs) during an Easter Sunday celebration in Sulmona, Italy. PHOTO: REUTERS

Christian worshippers take part in a Sunday Easter mass procession in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. PHOTO: REUTERS

A woman kisses a monument at a grave as she visits a cemetery during Orthodox Easter in the village of Pogost, Belarus. PHOTO: REUTERS

People frolic at the beach to celebrate Easter Sunday, Tanza, Philippines. PHOTO: REUTERS