Christians around the world today celebrated Good Friday in the countries where it is still legal to congregate for worship.
Jerusalem’s holy sites, where tens of thousands of pilgrims were barred from attending last Easter, were reopened, although remaining travel restrictions meant numbers were limited.
In Australia, which has had very few coronavirus cases, worshippers took to the streets of Sydney for processions of the cross and were able to gather inside churches without wearing masks.
Meanwhile Catholic devotees in the Philippines flouted restrictions to whip themselves bloody during self-flagellation rituals to remember how Christ was beaten by the Romans before his crucifixion.
Pope Francis marked the day with a visit to a vaccination centre where the poor and homeless are being inoculated inside the Vatican.
The virus is still raging throughout much of Europe where celebrations were muted.
The fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris remained closed after Emmanuel Macron imposed a third national lockdown,while a lone crucifix standing in London’s Trafalgar Square was the only sign of the holy day in Britain’s heavily-restricted capital.
INDONESIA: A Catholic plays the role of Jesus during a Good Friday celebration outside a church in Pekanbaru
PHILIPPINES: Catholics whip themselves across their bloodied backs on the streets of Manila as they flout Covid rules to celebrate Good Friday
INDIA: Catholics re-enact the crucifixion, with men dressed as Romans surrounding Jesus at Saint Mary’s Bethany Convent in Hyderabad
CZECH REPUBLIC: eople wearing masks and respirators and pushing wooden rattles walk through the streets during an Easter procession on Good Friday in the city of Ceske Budejovice
PHILIPPINES: A Catholic lies across the road, his back bloodied from self-flagellation, a Good Friday ritual in the Philippines
AUSTRALIA: A man portraying Jesus carrying a cross during a Good Friday Crucifixion Walk, in Martin Place, Sydney
INDONESIA: In the wake of a church attack in South Sulawesi on March 28, soldiers and personnel carriers sit parked outside the St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral during Mass on Good Friday
INDIA: Catholics offer prayers as they take part in a procession to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in Chennai
JERUSALEM: Christians take part in a procession of the cross along the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday
PHILIPPINES: A man lies across the ground in Manila to be whipped during Catholic Good Friday celebrations
BRITAIN: A crucifix placed in Trafalgar Square, in locked-down London, on Good Friday, for the Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary
VATICAN CITY: The Pope visits a vaccination centre in the Paul VI Hall where the poor and homeless are being inoculated
AUSTRALIA: A Catholic man acting the part of Jesus takes part in celebrations on Martin Place on Friday
CZECH REPUBLIC: People wearing masks and respirators and pushing wooden rattles walk through the streets during an Easter procession on Good Friday
PHILIPPINES: A man whips himself across the back as children watch on during Good Friday celebrations in Manila
INDIA: A Christian takes part in a re-enactment of the crucifixion in Hyderabad on Good Friday
INDONESIA: An armed policeman stands guard as nuns walk to church in the Muslim-majority country on the resort island of Bali
INDONESIA: A man playing a role of Jesus Christ is tied to a cross during a performance outside a church on Good Friday, amid the pandemic in Pekanbaru, Riau Province
Last year, Jerusalem was under a strict lockdown, with sacred rites observed by small groups of priests, often behind closed doors.
This year, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead, is open to visitors and expecting a few dozen.
After the morning prayer service they will retrace Jesus’ final steps along the Via Dolorosa.
‘Things are open, but cautiously and gradually,’ said Wadie Abunassar, an adviser to church leaders in the Holy Land.
‘In regular years we urge people to come out. Last year we told people to stay at home… This year we are somehow silent.’
Israel has launched one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing it to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites.
But air travel is still limited by quarantine and other restrictions, keeping away the foreign pilgrims who usually throng Jerusalem during Holy Week.
The main holy sites are in the Old City in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 war.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital, while the Palestinians want both territories for their future state.
Israel included Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in its vaccination campaign, but has only provided a small number of vaccines to those in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has imported tens of thousands of doses for a population of more than 2.5 million.
GERMANY: A minister leads a socially-distanced service at the Protestant Berlin Cathedral on Good Friday
ISRAEL: Christian worshippers take part in a Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa amid eased coronavirus restrictions
AUSTRALIA: Nuns take part in a service at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Friday
INDIA: A congregation celebrates Good Friday at All Saints’ Cathedral in Allahabad
CZECH REPUBLIC: People wearing white masks during a Catholic procession through the city of Ceske Budejovice on Good Friday
SOUTH AFRICA: Members of The Golden Apostolic Faith Healing Mission Church pray during a religious ceremony to celebrate Good Friday in Soweto
PHILIPPINES: Barefoot men flagellate themselves across their blooded backs on the streets of Manila on Good Friday
AUSTRALIA: Worshippers at the St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney where there are no restrictions on church services
INDONESIA: Soldiers stand guard while people have their temperatures scanned outside St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Jakarta
INDIA: A woman reaches out to touch a figure of Christ on the cross during a service in Chennai on Good Friday
Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations.
Abunassar said he was not aware of any large tour groups from the West Bank planning to enter, as in years past, likely reflecting concerns about the virus.
Abunassar said most Christians in the region celebrate Holy Week in their local parishes. The Good Friday services in the Old City are only expected to draw a small number of people, mainly priests and foreigners who reside in the Holy Land.
At the Vatican, Holy Week events are being celebrated before limited numbers of masked faithful to respect COVID-19 health and social distancing norms.
In France, a nationwide 7pm curfew is forcing parishes to move Good Friday ceremonies forward in the day, as the traditional Catholic night processions are being drastically scaled back or cancelled.
Nineteen departments in France are on localized lockdowns, where parishioners can attend daytime Mass if they sign the government´s ‘travel certificate.’
Although a third lockdown ‘light’ is being imposed Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron has wavered on a travel ban for Easter weekend, allowing the French to drive between regions to meet up with family on Friday.
INDONESIA: Men playing Roman soldiers and a man acting the role of Jesus outside a church in Pekanbaru during a Catholic celebration of Good Friday
INDIA: A woman reads an order of service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Prayagraj on Good Friday
GERMANY: Worshippers wearing masks bow their heads during a service at the Protestant Berlin Cathedral
INDIA: A woman kneels and prays at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Prayagraj on Friday
Fire-ravaged Notre Dame will not hold a Good Friday mass this year, but the cathedral´s ‘Crown of Thorns’ will be venerated by the cathedral´s clergy at its new temporary liturgical hub in the nearby church of Saint-Germain-l´Auxerrois.
In the Philippines, streets were eerily quiet and religious gatherings were prohibited in the capital, Manila, and four outlying provinces.
The government placed the bustling region of more than 25 million people back under lockdown this week as it scrambled to contain an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Philippines had started to reopen in hopes of stemming a severe economic crisis, but infections surged last month, apparently because of more contagious strains, increased public mobility and complacency.
In Australia, masked churchgoers sat in rows of socially distanced chairs at a street in Sydney as actor Timothy Watkins carried a cross in his portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during a Good Friday observance.