In pictures: World Easter celebrations

Around the world, Christians of different denominations have been celebrating Easter Sunday.

Eastern Orthodox and Western churches mark the date on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.

But the dates usually vary as Protestant and Catholic churches follow the sixteenth century Gregorian Calendar, while the Orthodox churches use the older Julian Calendar.

This year, for the first time since 1990, the dates coincide.

Pope John Paul delivers his annual Urbi et Orbi address

Thousands of people gather in St Peter's Square to hear the Pontiff's message of peace

Pilgrims take pictures before a service at the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Berliners filled the protestant cathedral for Easter Sunday service

Armed police hold candles as they stand guard near the Orthodox cathedral of the Macedonian city of Tetovo

Many Russians commemorate Easter visiting the graves of their relatives and drinking vodka in their memory

At Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II holds Easter service

At a military base in Kiev, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest sprinkles holy water over cakes and eggs

In Bhopal, central India, a four-year-old boy kisses a crucifix

East Timorese children pray in the garden of a Catholic church in Dili