Pope Francis called for solidarity the world over to confront the "epochal challenge" posed by the coronavirus pandemic, as Christians celebrated a solitary Easter Sunday, blending the joyful feast day with sorrow over the toll the virus has already taken. Families that normally would attend morning Mass wearing their Easter best and later join friends for celebratory lunches hunkered down at home. Police checkpoints in Europe and closed churches around the globe left the faithful with the only option to watch Easter services online or on TV. Brazilian priest Marcelo Santiago celebrates Easter Mass behind the closed doors of the Nossa Senhora do Carmo church in Ouro Preto. Pope Tawadros II, the spiritual leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians, celebrated in a largely empty Monastery of Saint Pishoy, in a desert valley west of the capital, Cairo.

Source: CBC News April 12, 2020 16:38 UTC