Georgian Orthodox Church Celebrates Easter Amid Curfew

Churchgoers and most clerics wore face masks as they attended an Orthodox Easter Vigil at the Trinity Cathedral in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. The ceremony was led by the 87-year-old head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II. Worshippers had to stay in the church throughout the night of April 18-19 as a curfew -- one of the official measures to counter the coronavirus outbreak -- was in force. The Orthodox Church in Georgia held Easter rites in its larger temples, with the police overseeing that physical-distancing rules were respected.