This year, Easter fell on the same day in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic church calendars, and in Jerusalem, Orthodox and Catholics worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' Good Friday crucifixion and burial and of his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Protestants held their own ceremonies outside the walled Old City at the Garden Tomb, which some identify as the site of Jesus' burial.
At Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI offered an Easter prayer Sunday for diplomacy to prevail over warfare in Libya and for citizens of the Middle East to build a new society based on respect.
Here's a look back at images from Easter week. ( 30 images)
At Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI offered an Easter prayer Sunday for diplomacy to prevail over warfare in Libya and for citizens of the Middle East to build a new society based on respect.
Here's a look back at images from Easter week. ( 30 images)
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Christian Orthodox worshippers hold up candles lit from the 'Holy Fire' as thousands gather in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's old city on April 23, 2011 during the 'Holy Fire' ceremony on the eve of the Orthodox Easter. The ceremony celebrated in the same way for 11 centuries, is marked by the appearance of 'sacred fire' in the two cavities on either side of the Holy Sepulchre. The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is the site of the final resting place of Jesus Christ, according to Christian tradition. AFP/ Getty Images / Gali Tibbon
Chrisitan pilgrims carry wooden crosses along the Via Dolorosa during the Good Friday procession on April 22, 2011 in Jerusalem, Israel. Getty Images / Uriel Sinai
Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre April 23, 2011 in Jerusalem's old city, Israel. Getty Images / Uriel Sinai
Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre April 23, 2011 in Jerusalem's old city, Israel. Getty Images / Uriel Sinai
Christian Orthodox pilgrims light candles as fire spreads through the crowd attending the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City, Saturday, April 23, 2011. AP / Oded Balilty
Christian Orthodox pilgrims light candles as fire spreads through the crowd attending the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City, Saturday, April 23, 2011. AP / Oded Balilty
Christian Orthodox pilgrims gesture towards a ray of light after the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City, Saturday, April 23, 2011. AP / Maya Hasson
Pope Benedict XVI participates in a foot washing service during the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the St. John Basilica on April 21, 2011 in Rome, Italy. The Mass of the Lord's Supper is celebrated on Holy Thursday, leading up to Easter Sunday, in commemoration of the Last Supper. Getty Images / Franco Origlia
Pope Benedict XVI holds a candle as he celebrates the Easter Vigil mass, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 23, 2011. The pontif began Saturday night's ceremony by lighting a candle that symbolizes the resurrection of Christ, which the faithful mark on Easter Sunday. AP / Gregorio Borgia
Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Easter Day message 'urbi et orbi' blessing (to the city and to the world) from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on April 24, 2011 in Vatican City, Vatican. Getty Images / Franco Origlia
A general view of St. Peter's Square during the Easter Mass held by Pope Benedict XVI on April 24, 2011 in Vatican City, Vatican. Getty Images / Franco Origlia
Worshippers of the 'Santisimo Cristo del Salvador' brotherhood carry the crucifix on their way to the beach during a Holy Week procession on April 22, 2011 in Valencia, Spain. Getty Images / David Ramos
Penitents take part in the procession of the 'Cristo de la buena muerte' brotherhood, during Holy Week in Zamora, northern Spain, in the early hours of Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Hundreds of processions took place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. AP / I.Lopez
A man dressed as a Roman walks past a woman wearing the traditional mantilla next to the entrance gate of La Macarena church before a procession during Holy Week in Seville, Southern Spain, Thursday, April 21, 2011. AP / Emilio Morenatti
Pilgrims walk with crosses as the Northern Cross pilgrimage makes its final leg of the journey to Holy Island, Berwick Upon Tweed, England, Friday, April 22, 2011. For more than 30 years, groups of pilgrims have celebrated Easter by crossing the tidal causeway during the annual Christian cross-carrying pilgrimage to Holy Island. The pilgrims walk about 100 miles through Northumberland and the Scottish Borders during Holy Week. AP / Scott Heppell
Pilgrims walk with crosses as the Northern Cross pilgrimage makes its final leg of the journey to Holy Island, Berwick Upon Tweed, England, Friday, April 22, 2011. AP / Scott Heppell
Men and women of the region in traditional dresses ride through fields to get a blessing for men and beasts at the St. George church near Traunstein, southern Germany, on Monday, April 25, 2011. The procession has been held for 300 years on Easter Monday. AP / Matthias Schrader
A Greek Orthodox priest holds an icon of the body of Jesus during a Good Friday reenactment of Christ being taken down from the crucifix, at the Pendeli Monastery, near Athens, on Friday, April 22, 2011. AP / Kostas Tsironis
Revelers hold flares during pre-Easter celebrations in the city of Agrinio, western Greece, late Good Friday, April 22, 2011. The celebration, known as "saitopolemos" in Greek, dates back to Greece's 1821-32 war of independence against the Ottoman Empire. AP / Petros Giannakouris
Matyo minority boys dressed in their traditional clothing pour buckets of water on Matyo girls in Mezokovesd, central Hungary, Thursday, April 21, 2011. during a rehearsal performance of this typical Hungarian Easter tradition. AP / Bela Szandelszky
A model of a plane containing Christ's tomb in reference to the Smolensk crash where late President Kaczynski and other 95 victims died last year, is seen at a church in Rumia, near Gdynia, northern Poland, with the figure of the crucified Christ in foreground, Saturday April 23, 2011. AP / Jarek Gojke
Romanian Orthodox worshipers crowd around father Adrian to light candles during the Easter religious service in Ulmi, Romania, early Sunday, April 24, 2011. This year the country's Orthodox majority celebrated Easter on the same day with the Catholics. AP / Vadim Ghirda
Romanian Christian Orthodox believers visit the ossuary of Pasarea monastery shortly after the Easter religious service as local nuns light candles for those who have died in Pasarea village (20km east from Bucharest) April 24, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Daniel Mihailescu
Women light candles during an Orthodox Easter service in the city of Chernobyl on April 24, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Sergei Supinsky
Franc Grom displays one of his special Easter eggshells drilled with more than 20.000 holes in Stara Vrhnika, some 50 kilometers from Ljubljana on APril 22, 2011. Grom, a 70-year old Slovenian craftsman has drilled holes in Easter eggshells for the last 18 years to make ornaments out of them. He drills approximately 2500 to 3500 holes to make a single special Easter eggshell for which he spends usually one week. AFP/ Getty Images / Hrvoje Polan
A priest, right, gestures as seminarians carry an image of Jesus Christ during a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Havana, Friday, April 22, 2011. AP / Javier Galeano
Villagers, left, step in to help the acolytes, dressed in purple, calm the donkey designated to carry a statue of Jesus in the Palm Sunday procession in Panchimalco, El Salvador, Sunday April 17, 2011. The donkey could not be calmed and the villagers and acolytes had to carry the statue. AP / Luis Romero
People swim in a sacred pool during a Voodoo ceremony in Souvenance, Haiti, Sunday April 24, 2011. Hundreds of Voodoo followers travel to Souvenance over Easter weekend to show their devotion to the spirits. Voodoo was brought to Haiti by slaves from West Africa and is one of Haiti's three recognized religions. AP / Ramon Espinosa
A person takes a picture of a statue of Jesus Christ during Holy Week celebrations in Niquinohomo, Nicaragua, on Easter Sunday April 24, 2011. AP / Esteban Felix
The cross at the lifechurch.tv on 4600 East 2nd Street in Edmond, Okla., is reflected in raindrops on a car's rear-view mirror during a thunderstorm on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011. The Oklahoman / Sarah Phipps
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