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Orthodox Christians Observe Easter Sunday
Voice of America
Millions of Orthodox Christians are celebrating Easter Sunday, but many have been urged to observe the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection from their homes instead of their usual places of worship amid efforts to bring the COVID pandemic under control.
There are more than 260 million Orthodox Christians according to U.S.-based Pew Research Center. Some churches streamed live services from empty places of worship, while others were open to worshippers. In Israel, hundreds of Orthodox Christians gathered at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The site is revered as the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and this year’s gathering was much larger than last because the country’s coronavirus restrictions have eased, according to Reuters.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250201090827.jpg)
FILE - Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team pictured on Oct. 12, 1928, in Alaska. In 1925, Seppala was part of the nearly 700-mile relay of mushers and dog teams to get diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, during a deadly outbreak of the disease. FILE - Gunnar Kaasen poses with his original dog team — including his lead dog Balto, top row, second left, in 1925 — which he drove through a blinding blizzard to deliver lifesaving serum, in Nome, Alaska. FILE - Gunnar Kaasen and his dogsled team leader Balto pose for a portrait in the early 1920s. FILE - The statue erected to honor "Balto" and other heroic sled dogs who carried serum to Nome, Alaska, through an Arctic blizzard is covered in snow in New York's Central Park, Dec. 11, 1947.