With "Holy Fire," fireworks and solemn Masses, Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter on Sunday, commemorating the day followers believe that Jesus was resurrected more than 2,000 years ago.
Roman Catholics and Protestants marked Easter in March, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Eastern Orthodox churches celebrated Easter this week, using the older Julian calendar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended an Easter midnight Mass in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the world's largest Orthodox Church, officiated at the service, attended by some 5,000.
In Greece, the faithful attended Easter Mass holding candles lit with "Holy Fire" from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The "Holy Fire," coming from the Edicule, the small chamber marking the site of Jesus' tomb, is held by the faithful to miraculously light candles as a message to the faithful from heaven.
The fire was transferred to Greece by plane and, as custom dictates, welcomed at Athens airport with the honors due a visiting foreign head of state, before taken across the country by plane so it could reach the furthest parishes before midnight Sunday.
The "Holy Fire" was also transported to Russia and other Orthodox nations.
Fireworks are an essential part of the festivities, despite official disapproval from the Greek Orthodox Church. On the eastern Greek Aegean island of Chios, two parishes in the village of Vrontados stage a spectacular mock war with a hail of fireworks, drawing visitors from across the country.
For more details, watch the full report in the video above