Overview
- Good Friday, which falls Friday, April 3 for Catholics and many Protestants, is being marked worldwide with services, fasting and reflection.
- Services feature ancient rites such as veneration of the cross, and in Catholic and Orthodox practice the Eucharist is not celebrated as a normal Mass.
- Large public rituals include Seville’s Holy Week processions, miles-long sawdust-and-flower carpets in Antigua, and penitential acts in parts of the Philippines.
- India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted Good Friday greetings on X urging harmony and forgiveness, as devotees held Way of the Cross processions and church prayers in Kolkata, Thoothukudi and Delhi.
- Many Orthodox Christians will observe Good Friday on April 10, reflecting different calendars used to set the date tied to Easter’s lunar calculation.