Inside the Basilica, surrounded only by his closest collaborators, Pope Francis delivered his traditional Easter Urbi et Orbi message to the city of Rome and the world.
Millions of people watched and listened on various media platforms as the Pope repeated the Easter proclamation: Christ, my hope, is risen!” He called this message “a different ‘contagion’,” one that is transmitted “from heart to heart.”
Christ’s resurrection is not a “magic formula that makes problems vanish,” he said, “it is the victory of love over the root of evil.” This victory “does not ‘by-pass’ suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss, transforming evil into good,” he added.
The Pope’s thoughts turned to those directly affected by the coronavirus. “For many, this is an Easter of solitude, lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties,” he said.
“This disease has not only deprived us of human closeness but also of the possibility of receiving in person the consolation that flows from the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation,” said Pope Francis.
“But the Lord has not left us alone,” he added. “United in our prayer, we are convinced that He has laid His hand upon us.”
The Pope then expressed his gratitude and affection to doctors and nurses, and “to all who work diligently to guarantee the essential services necessary for civil society, and to the law enforcement and military personnel who in many countries have helped ease people’s difficulties and sufferings.”
Pope Francis concluded his Urbi et Orbi message with a prayer: “May Christ, who has already defeated death and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, dispel the darkness of our suffering humanity and lead us into the light of His glorious day. A day that knows no end.”
Source: Vatican News
