Pope Francis prayed for persecuted Christians a day after Islamist militants attacked a university in Kenya, killing scores of people, as Good Friday was commemorated around the world. "We see in [Jesus] our persecuted brothers, beheaded and crucified because of their faith … before our eyes or often with our complicit silence," he said after a Way of the Cross procession at Rome's ancient Colosseum. Besides the killings in Kenya, which he called "senseless brutality," Francis mentioned the beheading of 22 Egyptian Coptic Christians last February by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants. On Good Friday, Christians mark the death of Jesus Christ and prepare to end the season of Lent with Easter Sunday celebrations. Jewish families began the eight-day Passover holiday on Friday at sundown. Passover is American Jews' most observed religious ritual.
Vatican City: Pope Francis was prostrate during a mass to celebrate the passion of Christ in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Friday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Haiti: A man prayed as he balanced a stone on his head as a form of penance during a Good Friday pilgrimage in Ganthier. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Nuns and faithful hold candles as they attend the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession celebrated by Pope Francis in front of the Colosseum on Good Friday, in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Peru: Women burned incense as they took part in a Good Friday procession honoring “The Lord of Miracles,” the patron saint of Lima, on Friday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Church volunteers and homeless people reenact the journey of Jesus Christ's final hours, during a Good Friday procession, outside the city's cathedral in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, April 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
