People around the world celebrate Easter

Davey Mitchello participates during the annual Easter Day procession on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The sun rises along the Jersey Shore in Ocean Grove, N.J., during Easter services on the boardwalk. Last fall, Superstorm Sandy washed away one of the two iconic wooden crosses that stood along the beachfront.

"Sampauluna" are giant statues which are carried during a Easter procession in San Cataldo, Sicily. The giant papier-mache characters represent the eleven apostles, excluding Judas.

Pope Francis leads Easter celebrations at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Easter Sunday celebrates the Christian belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The holiday is marked around the world, often with a variety of not strictly religious traditions such as painted eggs or Easter bunnies.

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the popemobile during the Easter celebrations at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Daffodils bloom in front of St. Peter's Basilica in March 2013.

Congregants pray during Easter services at Regina Mundi Catholic Church in the Soweto area of Johannesbur

Father Sebastian Rossouw O.M.I. sprinkes holy water on congregants during Easter services at Regina Mundi Catholic Church in the Soweto area in Johannesburg.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, arrive for the Easter service at St. George's Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

A Pakistani Christian woman attends an Easter Mass at a church in Karachi. Pakistan is overwhelmingly Muslim and at about 2% of the population, Christians are among the country's most marginalized citizens. Many are impoverished and work dirty, menial jobs.

People hold candles during an Easter vigil mass in the Cathedral in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Cardinal Audrys Juozas Backis, left, administers the blessing at the Easter vigil Mass in the Kathedral-Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Indonesian Christian Pastor Torang Simanjuntak delivers an Easter Mass next to the ruins of the Taman Sari Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi, Jakarta, Indonesia. Minority Christians are marking Easter in Indonesia amid rising cases of religious intolerance. On March 21, the local government demolished the half-constructed church in front of its weeping congregation.

Catholic priests carry candles during an Easter vigil on Holy Saturday at the Cathedral of Virgin Mary Immaculate Conception in Moscow.

A crucifix is on display as Pope Francis appears before delivering his first 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica during Easter Mass in Vatican City.

Chinese Catholic choir girls hold during an Easter service March 30 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing.

Chinese Catholics hold candles during an Easter service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing. Experts estimate that there are as many as 12 million Catholics in China, with about half in congregations under the officially administered Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. The rest belong to non-sanctioned "underground" churches.

Pope Francis leads the Via Crucis ("Way of the Cross") torchlight procession March 29 in front of the Colosseum in Rome. The evening procession at the ancient amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies.

Wearing penitential robes and hoods, penitents of the Brotherhood of Silence carry a statue of Jesus Christ in a procession during the Holy Week in La Laguna, on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife.

Penitents of the Brotherhood of Silence take part in a procession during Holy Week in La Laguna, on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife.

Fans dressed as the Easter Bunny celebrate in the stands during the third period of the game between Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

The Rev. David Lai Sum, center, pastor of First Baptist Church, participates in the Walk of Witness on Good Friday on March 29 in Battle Creek, Mich.

People gather for a Good Friday pilgrimage at Morne Calvaire, near Port-au-Prince.

Actors perform the Stations of the Cross in Ourem, central Portugal.

Christian worshipers carry a large wooden cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Archbishop of Paris Andre Vingt-Trois carries a cross during a Way of the Cross procession in front of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre.

Actor James Burke-Dunsmore, center, plays Jesus during a performance of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday in Trafalgar Square in London.

People carry the historic 1728 statue of a dead Jesus Christ during a Good Friday procession on Procida Island, Italy. The annual procession began in 1627.

People carry crosses to Holy Island in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England.

A man is nailed to a cross during a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday in San Juan village, Philippines.

Cesar Higuero Martin bound with rope and dressed in a traditional costume as he prays at a station of the cross during the Good Friday procession in Valverde de la Vera, Spain.

An alter boy kisses a crucifix during a Good Friday ceremony at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi, India.

Christians reenact the crucifixion of Jesus during a Mass at the Jakarta Cathedral in Jakarta.