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Easter

Easter
Easter is a Christian festival marking the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Preceded by Lent - a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance - Easter begins on Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper of Christ and his disciples. Good Friday symbolises Christ's crucifixion and subsequent death while Pentecost Sunday celebrates the day Christ rose from the grave. Families traditionally attend church services and Easter parades during this period, and children join in egg hunts and receive chocolate eggs.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
A Sri Lankan soldier stands guard outside St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo in May 2019, a week after a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels rocked the Indian Ocean island nation. Photo: AFP
Sri Lanka

UN calls for justice 5 years after hundreds died in Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings

Islamist bombers hit three churches and three hotels in 2019, killing more than 279 people, but grieving families say they are still awaiting justice.

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Food and Drinks

Mouthing Off | How Hong Kong Sevens showed need for change in city’s tourism strategy

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Hong Kong tourism

Surge in mainland tours as Hongkongers make 1.76 million outbound trips at Easter

Hong Kong society

Editorial | Hong Kong businesses must adapt as residents ‘go north’

Hong Kong shops and restaurants, already suffering, lost out as hundreds of thousands of citizens ventured to mainland China to take advantage of the long Easter weekend.

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Potential diners were thin on the ground on the third day of Easter holidays at this Mong Kok restaurant. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hong Kong tourism

Hongkongers make 1.5 million outbound trips in first 3 days of Easter break

Number of visitor arrivals drops 35 per cent compared with pre-pandemic 2018, with restaurant industry leader saying high-end establishments hit hardest.

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Israel-Gaza war

Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital tent camp, killing 2 and wounding 15

The Israeli military said it struck a command centre of the Islamic Jihad militant group and claimed the hospital’s functioning was not affected.

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United States

‘Assault’ on Christianity: Trump drags Biden into transgender day culture war

Trump and fellow conservatives attacked the US president after he announced that Transgender Day of Visibility would be recognised on Easter Sunday.

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A pride flag is held at a Black Queer Trans Lives Matter rally outside the State Capitol in Connecticut. Photo: TNS
Pope Francis

Pope’s Easter message renews call for Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages

‘With their eyes children ask us, why all this death and destruction?’ said the 87-year-old, who also condemned ‘walls of selfishness and indifference’.

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Hong Kong society

My Take | As we mark Easter, Hong Kong would also welcome the hope of renewal

The city has come a long way from the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022. But the needed recovery remains challenging.

Hong Kong tourism

Hong Kong malls offer free parking as 541,000 people leave city for Easter break

About 376,000 people had entered Hong Kong on Saturday as of 9pm.

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Motorists queue up for free parking at the Harbour City shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui on Saturday. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Pope Francis

Pope skips Good Friday procession at last minute ‘to preserve his health’

The 87-year-old pontiff’s sudden no show is likely to renew concerns about his declining strength.

Pope Francis prays during the Good Friday Passion of the Lord service in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Friday. Photo: Reuters
The Philippines

What is the Philippines’ ‘Holy Week’? A look at the religious fervour to Easter

In a country with the third-largest Catholic population in the world, the seven days from March 24 holds special significance till Easter Sunday.

Hong Kong economy

More than 580,000 Hongkongers leave city on first day of Easter holiday

Official figures show at least 589,654 residents left city across all border points as of 4pm on Friday

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South Africa

South Africa bus crash kills 45 Easter pilgrims, transport ministry says

Seriously injured 8-year-old child is sole survivor after bus plunged off bridge and caught fire in province of Limpopo. President Ramaphosa earlier appealed to South Africans to take care when travelling.

Firefighters hose down the wreckage of a bus after it crashed in Limpopo Province, South Africa on Thursday. Photo: Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety via Reuters
Hong Kong economy

Explainer | Unsure how to spend your Easter public holiday? Hong Kong offers events galore

Hong Kong has launched a dozen high-profile arts and culture events this month as part of ‘Art March’ drive, coinciding with an earlier-than-usual Easter break.

Revellers can take in the sights of the “Continuous” exhibition at Victoria Harbour during the Easter break. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hong Kong tourism

Hong Kong expects 11 million border crossings at Easter and Ching Ming Festival

About 9.5 million land border crossings expected over Easter break and Ching Ming Festival, with another 1.5 million by air and sea.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis skips Palm Sunday homily at start of busy Holy Week

Hobbled by bad knees and respiratory problems, the pope, 87, also did not take part in procession of cardinals around the obelisk in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

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Ukraine war

Ukraine moves Christmas Day holiday to December 25, denouncing Russian traditions

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to December 25 from January 7 with the goal of ‘abandoning the Russian heritage’.

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Ukrainians attend a Christmas mass at an Orthodox Church in Bobrytsia, Kyiv, Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to December 25 from January 7, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church observes it. Photo: AP
Israel

Thousands in Jerusalem for Orthodox Easter ‘Holy Fire’ rite

The ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the thousand-year-old rite takes place, was built over the site where Christian tradition says Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

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United States

Biden kicks off Easter egg roll with talk of re-election bid

US president, 80, hosting Monday’s festivities on White House South Lawn, said he plans to participate in ‘at least 3 or 4 more Easter egg rolls, maybe 5’.

The Philippines

‘Some were drunk’: 72 people have drowned in the Philippines this month

The death toll, tallied from 67 drowning incidents since the start of April, came as many Filipinos ‘got excited’ to visit beaches and resorts around the country, the police said.

Young Filipinos go for a swim in Manila Bay on Saturday during the Holy Week holiday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong businesses suffer as nearly 860,000 residents leave over Easter holiday

Catering sector still clawing way back to pre-pandemic levels, with mainland Chinese customers not playing big role over long weekend.

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Mainland tourists at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. Photo: Elson Li
South Africa

Hundreds of South African couples tie the knot in Easter mass wedding

The International Pentecost Holiness Church blesses polygamous unions, common in some African communities, and the church says are authorised by the Bible.

Israel

Thousands of worshippers celebrate in tense Jerusalem as violence surges

Christian Easter coincided with Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, against a backdrop of surging Israeli-Palestinian violence

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Italy

Pope Francis decries ‘icy winds of war’ at Easter Vigil in Rome

The pope, who was in hospital due to bronchitis last week and suffers from a knee condition, approached the altar in a wheelchair. He is expected to celebrate the Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square.

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Pope Francis presides over the Easter Vigil in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday. Photo: Vatican Media / ­Handout via Reuters
Italy

Sickly pope to miss Good Friday procession for first time in a decade

It is the first time the pope will not preside at the ‘Via Crucis’ service since he was elected in 2013. The last pope to do so was Pope John Paul II, during the last weeks of his life in 2005.

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Pope Francis will skip the Good Friday procession, making this the first time in a decade that a pope has not attended it. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong economy

Easter off to good start for Hong Kong residents and tourists hunting for fun

One of city’s biggest Easter egg hunts makes comeback after two years of online events.

Hong Kong society

Good Friday marches held across Hong Kong but members told to keep faces visible

At one procession that stuck to church grounds, some participants wore masks, with one Christian saying rules impinge on right to practise religion.

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