For Pope Francis, his Easter Mass came amid heavy security in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, including armed police positioned on rooftops and metal detectors.
It's after Pope Francis spoke at an Easter vigil in the Holy See (above and below) on Saturday night.
The Catholic leader prayed for an end to wars around the world and particularly highlighted the ongoing war in Syria. Last week an attack on civilians in Syria killed at least 126 people - including 68 children - on the outskirts of Aleppo.
He said: "By his resurrection, Jesus Christ has set us free from the slavery of sin and death, and has opened before us the way to eternal life. All of us, when we let ourselves be mastered by sin, lose the right way and end up straying like lost sheep. But God himself, our shepherd, has come in search of us.
"Especially in these days, may he sustain the efforts of all those actively engaged in bringing comfort and relief to the civil population in Syria, prey to a war that continues to sow horror and death. May he grant peace to the entire Middle East, beginning with the Holy Land, as well as in Iraq and Yemen.
"May the Good Shepherd remain close to the people of South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who endure continuing hostilities, aggravated by the grave famine affecting certain parts of Africa.
Meanwhile the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev Justin Welby (below), preached as usual at Canterbury Cathedral.
The Archbishop remembered the 45 people murdered by Islamic State in the double church bombings in Egypt recently and said that although the world is rife with pain and poverty, they should not be allowed to triumph because Jesus rose from the dead.
He said: "The words Jesus says on that first Easter day, he says to you and me now, to each of us, to listen, to take hold of, within our hearts: Do not be afraid.
"These things, these grim events overshadow our lives because we fear that they may have the last word.
"These things lie. They deceive. They pretend to have power that they do not have when they say that they are final. There is only one finality; Jesus, the crucified one, is alive."
"You and I must come alongside the suffering and, with love and gentleness, bring restoration and hope."
