It's said that religion and politics shouldn't mix and on Easter Sunday even Australia's federal leaders seemed to agree.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten paused their campaigns on Good Friday and again on Sunday, joining thousands around the country in attending church.
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies commended the party leaders for the Easter armistice during the federal election campaign.
"It is totally appropriate that we have a "quiet day", for this is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the culmination of the events of Easter," Archbishop Davies said in a statement on Sunday.
"I hope Australians will take advantage of the Easter holiday not just as a time of rest but also a time to think about the implications of the resurrection of Jesus for each of us personally."
On Sunday morning the prime minister visited his Pentecostal church in Sutherland in Sydney's south.
Church elders greeted the nearly 1000 faithful with hugs, compliments and "Happy Easter! Happy Resurrection Sunday" as they arrived at Horizon Church's communion service.
Inside, three rows from the front and with wife Jenny by his side, the prime minister sang and clapped to the opening number celebrating a glorious day.
"Today is a reminder of the great hope and the reason for that hope is the reason we celebrate today," Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
"It's a very special time for me and my family but I know for people around the country and frankly all around the world."
Mr Shorten started his Sunday at a suburban Brisbane church, joined by his wife Chloe and their three children Georgette, Rupert and Clementine.
The family wandered to St Andrew's in Indooroopilly, stopping briefly to offer the media their Easter blessings, before joining about 100 parishioners for mass.
Bill, Chloe, and Clementine Shorten released a brief Easter message ahead of the Anglican church service.
"We wish you and your loved ones all the best this Easter," Mr Shorten said.
"For many, Easter is a time that carries deep meaning. It is a time for worship, for reflection, and a special opportunity for families to come together."
In his sermon on Sunday, Uniting Church Reverend Alistair Macrae chose to focus on the hope provided through God's defeat of death, seen in the resurrection of Jesus.
"Not a hope that is blind to the presence of evil, suffering and injustice in the world. But the hope that the power of love and justice will ultimately prevail," Rev Macrae told those gathered at Wesley Church in Melbourne's CBD.
"It is this dogged hope that encourages many people to persist in working for a fairer world even in the face of hostility or indifference."
In a homily for Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Peter A. Comensoli also explored the hope of Jesus' resurrection.
"This is what makes Christ's resurrection a joy and hope: it's not what his resurrected body might look like that matters; it's what his resurrected presence gives to us," Archbishop Comensoli wrote.
"As shattered and as wounded as our local church can seem at this time, and as belittled as Christianity is among the cynical elites of today, the Risen Lord, in his gloriously resurrected body, is still inviting us to share in his life and to walk with him."
Australian Associated Press
