Today is Good Friday, when Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is part of Holy Week, a series of religious holidays and observations commemorating the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Observances vary widely around the world, often incorporating elements of local pre-Christian traditions, and range from the elaborate and fanciful to simple and reverential. Collected here is a handful of photographs from this year's Holy Week around the world.
1. A Christian worshiper holds a candle inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher during a Good Friday procession in Jerusalem's Old City on April 2, 2010. Christian worshipers retraced the traditional route Jesus Christ took along the Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. (REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
2. A penitent from "La Sed" brotherhood, walks to the church to take part in a procession in Seville, Southern Spain, Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
3. Women carry a statue of the Virgin Mary during a Holy Week procession in Guatemala City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
4. Roman Catholic worshipers pray in front of a Tuan Ma (Mother Mary) statue at a church during Holy Week in Larantuka on Flores Island in Indonesia on April 1, 2010. Worshipers said they visit five churches to celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the discovery of the Tuan Ma (Mother Mary) statue. They believe the statue, which was found in Flores in 1510, is the basis of a new religion that has replaced animism on the island. (REUTERS/Beawiharta)
5. Roman Catholic worshippers gather on boats as they follow the procession accompanying a statue of Jesus Christ as it is transferred to another church during Holy Week off the Larantuka sea, Indonesia's Flores Island on April 2, 2010. (REUTERS/Beawiharta)
6. A Pakistani Christian woman prays during a mass on Orthodox Palm Sunday, at Fatima Church in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
7. A member of a brotherhood carries a statue of Christ during a procesion in honor of "Jesus of Nazareth" in the town of Izalco, 60 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador on April 1, 2010. (Jose CABEZAS/AFP/Getty Images)
8. A penitent called "Picao" walks with chains as he takes part in the "Santa Vera Cruz" brotherhood procession of the Holy Week in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, 330km north of Madrid, Spain on April 1, 2010. (CESAR MANSO/AFP/Getty Images)
9. Girls run as boys throw water at them as part of traditional Easter celebrations in the village of Szenna, Hungary on April 2, 2010. Locals from Szenna celebrate Easter with a traditional "watering of the girls", a fertility ritual rooted in Hungarian tribes' pre-Christian past, going as far back as the second century after Christ (REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh)
10. Penitents perform the "dance of the dead" during an Easter Holy Week procession in Verges, northeastern Spain, in early hours of Friday, April 2, 2010. (AP Photo/David Ramos)
11. A parishioner prays before the processcion of "Jesus Nazareno del Rescate" in Guatemala City, Guatemala on March 31, 2010. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
12. A boy plays the trumpet during the "Lagrimas y Favores" brotherhood procession during the Holy Week on March 28th, 2010 in Malaga, southern Spain, during the easter week celebrations. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
13. Deacon Buruk Kidane has his feet and hands washed by Reverend Gebrekiros at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church April 1, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Matt McClain/Getty Images)
14. Pope Benedict XVI leads the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican March 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)
15. A man attached to a cross prays at one of the 14 stations of the cross or "Via Crucis", a depiction of the final hours of Jesus Christ during the procession of the "Empalaos" in Valverde de la Vera, Extremadura, Spain on Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez)
16. Ethnic Russian children hold a prayer book during the Maundy Thursday religious service in Sarichioi, eastern Romania on Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
17. A worshipper kisses a giant wooden cross during a Good Friday reenactment of Christ being taken down from the crucifix, at the Pendeli Monastery, near Athens, Greece on Friday, April 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
18. A penitent takes part in the "La Paz" brotherhood procession during the Holy Week in Sevilla, Spain on March 28, 2010. (CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images)
19. A woman passes beneath a table where the Bible is placed during the Good Friday service in the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria on April 2, 2010. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images)
20. Filipina Roman Catholic Mary-Jane Mamangun is nailed to a cross as a re-enactment of the Crucifixion of Christ during Good Friday celebrations ahead of Easter in the village of San Juan, north of Manila, in The Philippines on April 2, 2010. (JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images)
21. Penitents adjust their hoods as they take part in the "Fusionadas" brotherhood procession during the Holy Week in Malaga, Spain on March 31, 2010. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
22. Christian Orthodox pilgrims carry crosses during Good Friday processions as they wait to get into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
23. Eden Hailu, 10, lights candles at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church April 1, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Matt McClain/Getty Images)
24. A woman wearing a traditional Mantilla dress takes part in a procession of the Gitanos brotherhood during Holy Week in the Andalusian city of Malaga, southern Spain on March 29, 2010. (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)
25. A penitent of the El Amor brotherhood takes part in a Holy Week procession in Cordoba, Spain, Sunday, March 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
26. A man, carrying a candle and a bundle of cactus on his shoulders, takes part in a procession of penitents during Holy Week in Taxco, Mexico, late Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
27. A masked Christian dressed as a devil, popularly known as a "Talsiguin", lashes a man from the crowd during the celebration of an ancient local Catholic tradition which marks the start of Holy Week, on March 29, 2010 in Texistepeque, El Salvador. Catholic faithful are lashed by the Talciguines to cleanse their sins. (Jose CABEZAS/AFP/Getty Images)
28. Members of the Spanish Legion carry the icon, Christ of the Good Death, to the Santo Domingo de Guzman Church during an easter procession on April 1, 2010 in Malaga, southern Spain. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
29. Orthodox Christians immerse themselves in the Jordan River at a baptism ceremony, during Holy Week, at Qasr el Yahud near the West Bank town of Jericho, Wednesday, March 31, 2010. The site is traditionally believed by many to be the place where Jesus was baptized. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
30. A priest leads US Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, in prayer during Palm Sunday mass held at their base in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on March 28, 2010. (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)
31. Penitents take part in the procession of the "Jesus Yacente" brotherhood, during Holy Week in Zamora, northern Spain, Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
32. Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrims pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, during the Eastern Orthodox Easter week in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, March 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
33. A Christian pilgrim dressed as Jesus Christ, is photographed while lying on a cross during a reenactment of the crucifixion during a Good Friday procession in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, April 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
34. Penitents dressed as different Biblical characters wait for the start of the "Nuestro Padre Jesus Preso" brotherhood procession during Holy Week in Puente Genil, near Cordoba, southern Spain, April 1, 2010. Hundreds of men dressed as characters from the Old and New Testaments parade alongside other penitents who carry floats bearing sculptures of Christ and the Virgin and models of biblical scenes during Holy Week in Puente Genil. (REUTERS/Javier Barbancho)
35. At least one hundred penitents carry the image of Jesus Christ during a Holy Week procession in downtown Guatemala City, Guatemala on Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
36. A penitent wears a blindfold during the "Lagrimas y Favores" brotherhood procession during the Holy Week on 28 March 2010 in Malaga, southern Spain, during the Easter week celebrations. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
37. The blood-covered leg of a penitent, resting on a bloodied step during a procession through the streets in the town of Verbicaro, southern Italy on April 2, 2010. The penitents, called "battenti", or beaters, hit their legs with a "cardillo" (a cork with attached pieces of glass) and walk, bleeding, in groups of three through the streets, stopping in front of all the churches and chapels in the town. The tradition began in the thirteenth century and serves as penitence for Christ's death. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)
38. A penitent participates in the Camino del Calvario procession, popularly known as "Turbas", in Cuenca, Spain early Friday, April, 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Fernando Bustamante)
39. A girl dressed as an angel awaits a procession of penitents during Holy Week in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, April 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
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