Catholics celebrate Easter

Catholics celebrated Easter. For all Christians this is the holiest day of the year.

Pope Leo XIV led the first religious service before Easter in Rome and the Vatican. He celebrated Mass for the first time since the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday last year. Unlike Francis, Pope Leo XIV continues various traditions of the Catholic Church. The first American to lead a community of 1.4 billion Catholics also carries the large cross during the Way of the Cross on Good Friday at the Colosseum.

While presiding over the Mass of the Chrism, he stated that in this dark hour of history, Christ’s mission of peace must be renewed. Today, he delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (Latin for “to the city and to the world”) for the first time on Easter before tens of thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Catholics in Bulgaria also celebrated Easter with solemn services and deep faith. In the town of Rakovski, home to the largest Catholic community in the country, churches were filled with thousands of believers who had come to celebrate the holiday.