Faithful gather to watch a Way of the Cross reenactment as part of Holy Week celebrations in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Good Friday is a unique — and uniquely solemn — day in the Christian calendar.
It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus, ahead of what’s a central tenet of faith for believers — his resurrection two days later on Easter Sunday, according to the Gospels.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A devotee dressed as townsperson takes part in a Way of the Cross reenactment in Arraijan, Panama, Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)A boy watches a Way of the Cross reenactment as part of Holy Week celebrations in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A devotee dressed as a Roman soldier places his foot on the face of a penitent depicting the role of Jesus Christ during a Way of the Cross reenactment as part of Holy Week celebrations in the Petare neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)Catholic sisters participate in the the distribution of Holy Communion during a service marking Good Friday at the Saint Charles church on Goree Island, Senegal, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)The cross is presented to the faithful during the Way of Cross ceremony to mark Good Friday, outside the Sacre Coeur basilica, Friday, April 3, 2026 . (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)Devotees dressed as Roman soldiers perform in a Way of the Cross reenactment in Arraijan, Panama, Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)Faithful carry a cross to the Tree of Life during a Good Friday procession in the Ciudad Bolivar neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)Roman soldiers dress David Sanchez, playing the role of Jesus Christ, with a crown and scarlet cloak to mock his claim as “King of the Jews”, during a Way of the Cross reenactment as part of Holy Week celebrations, in Colina, Chile, on Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)Members of the Resurrection Church walk by a street vendor as they perform during The Stations of the Cross procession through the Boyle Heights neighborhood on Good Friday, April 3, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)Christians take part in a Way of the Cross re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday during Holy Week in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)A penitent holds a tray with a figure’s severed head, ears, and tongue depicting a biblical scene during a Holy Week procession of the “Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno” brotherhood in Puente Genil, southern Spain, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)An amateur actor performing as Jesus, right, is fixed on a cross during the traditional Good Friday procession organised by the Italian community in Bensheim, Germany, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)A hooded penitent, wearing prickly cactus thorns on his head, prepares to walk in a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in Atlixco, Mexico, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)A devotee in an angel costume prepares for the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday during Holy Week in Arraijan, Panama, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)A devotee holds a cross during a Good Friday procession in the Ciudad Bolivar neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)Christians reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Guwahati, India, on Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)A penitents known as a “Veronica” takes part in the Jesus del Gran Poder procession in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa).A man carries a cross during the “Way of the Cross” over the Brooklyn Bridge on Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)A Christian woman kisses a Jesus Christ cross during Good Friday service at Sacred Heart Cathedral, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)Christians reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Guwahati, India, on Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Christians take part in a Way of the Cross re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday during Holy Week in Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)Young women and girls carry jeweled hearts representing the Virgin Mary at a Good Friday procession during Holy Week in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)Luiz Henrique, playing the role of Jesus Christ, hangs on a cross during a Way of the Cross reenactment as part of Holy Week celebrations, at the Complexo do Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)Parishioners walk in a procession after a Good Friday Mass at St. Anthony Church, which was devoted to expressing solidarity with Christian villagers in southern Lebanon displaced by the war in Jdeideh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)A nail is pierced on the feet of Arnold Manaigo during the reenactment of Jesus Christ’s sufferings as part of Good Friday rituals in the San Pedro Cutud village, Pampanga province, northern Philippines April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)A Christian pilgrim prays at the third station along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Old City, largely empty due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, during Good Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Members of the St Francis Catholic Church take part in a Way of the Cross re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday during Holy Week in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)A pilgrim makes the Good Friday journey to Chimayó, New Mexico, on Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ’s steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ’s steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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