Easter ceremonies in Rome changed in 2021 because of Covid restrictions

The famous photograph from last year's Palm Sunday service: Pope Francis holds a stylised palm branch, to which the history of the feast is tied.

In 2021 all the Easter events in Rome have been altered on account of Covid restrictions. The number of guests at the traditional ceremonies has been reduced, and the venues of some services have been changed. The Good Friday procession has been moved from the Colosseum, where it had been held since the 1960s, in the time of Saint Paul VI; this time, as last year, it will take place in Saint Peter's Square. And the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper, Christ's washing of his disciples' feet, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal of Judas, and which for many years has been celebrated in a hospital, a prison or a shelter, will this year be celebrated not by the Pope but by the Curial cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.