VATICAN CITY — The hope Christians have is not a sign of avoiding reality but of trusting in the power of God to defeat sin and death as the resurrection of Jesus clearly shows, Pope Francis wrote in his Easter message.
"All those who put their hope in God place their feeble hands in his strong and mighty hand; they let themselves be raised up and set out on a journey," said the message, read before Pope Francis gave his Easter blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) April 20.
The pope's voice was weak, as it has been since he was released from the hospital March 23, and he barely raised his arms as he made the sign of the cross, but the tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square were appreciative and clapped loudly after saying, "Amen."
"Together with the risen Jesus," he wrote in his message, those who trust in God "become pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of life."
The 88-year-old pope, who is still recovering from pneumonia, was not present at the Easter morning Mass in St. Peter's Square but arrived shortly after noon to give the solemn blessing.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family did not attend the Mass either, but Vance arrived at the Vatican at about 11:30 a.m. for a private meeting with Pope Francis in the papal residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Vatican said the meeting lasted just a few minutes and allowed the two to exchange Easter greetings.
Vance had met April 19 with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister. The Vatican said they discussed efforts to defend religious freedom as well as the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners."
Security in and around St. Peter's Square was tight. Just outside the square, an Italian army officer manned a large anti-drone gun, which he said uses electromagnetic pulses to disable the drone operator's ability to control it.
With his voice still weak, Pope Francis wished everyone a Happy Easter and then asked his master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, to read his message, which insisted that "Easter is the celebration of life!"
"God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again," he wrote. "In his eyes, every life is precious! The life of a child in the mother's womb, as well as the lives of the elderly and the sick, who in more and more countries are looked upon as people to be discarded."
Pope Francis condemned the "great thirst for death" seen in violence and wars around the world and in the "contempt" people, including government leaders, direct toward "the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants!"
As is traditional for the message, the pope also prayed for peace in war-torn nations, mentioning by name: Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Congo and Myanmar.
Pope Francis condemned "the growing climate of antisemitism throughout the world." But he also called attention to "the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation."
"I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace," the papal message said.
Pope Francis had chosen Cardinal Angelo Comastri, retired archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, to be his delegate to preside over the morning Mass and read his homily.
Some 50,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, roses and other flowers and bushes decorated the steps leading up to St. Peter's Basilica while garlands framed the main entrance to the atrium of the basilica and adorned the central balcony.
Because Easter fell on the same day on the Julian and Gregorian calendars, meaning Catholic and Orthodox were celebrating on the same day, the Vatican added Byzantine "stichera" or hymns and "stichos" or Psalm verses after the chanting of the Gospel in Latin and in Greek.
The homily the pope prepared focused on the Easter Gospel's description of Mary Magdalene running to tells the disciples that Jesus had risen and Peter and John running to verify the news.
Running, the pope wrote, "expresses the desire, the yearning of the heart, the inner attitude of those who set out to search for Jesus."
And because he has risen from the dead, people must look for Jesus in someplace other than the tomb, the pope's text said.
"We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters," he said. "We must look for him without ceasing. Because if he has risen from the dead, then he is present everywhere, he dwells among us, he hides himself and reveals himself even today in the sisters and brothers we meet along the way, in the most ordinary and unpredictable situations of our lives."
Jesus "is alive and is with us always, shedding the tears of those who suffer and adding to the beauty of life through the small acts of love carried out by each of us," Pope Francis wrote.
After the Mass, the Easter blessing, Pope Francis got in the popemobile and rode around St. Peter's Square, waving to the crowd and blessing babies.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Christ's light breaks through world's darkness, pope says in vigil message
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Christ's light breaks through world's darkness, pope says in vigil message
VATICAN CITY — As the lights of St. Peter's Basilica were extinguished and silence settled through the sprawling interior, a single flame -- the paschal candle -- pierced through the gloom, representing the light of the risen Christ which "quietly shines forth, even though we are in darkness," Pope Francis said.
Before the wounds of selfishness and violence present throughout the world, "the promise of new life and a world finally set free awaits us; and a new beginning, however impossible it might seem, can take us by surprise, for Christ has triumphed over death," he wrote in his prepared homily for the Easter Vigil at the Vatican April 19.
The pope, still recovering from respiratory infections, did not attend the Mass but he made an appearance in the basilica earlier in the day to pray, and upon exiting, he greeted a group of pilgrims from Pittsburgh present there. His homily at the Easter Vigil was read by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
The vigil began in the atrium of the basilica with the blessing of the fire and lighting of the paschal candle. A deacon carried the candle into the darkened church, chanting "lumen Christi" ("the light of Christ") three times, to which the congregation responded, "Deo gratias" ("thanks be to God"). As the flame was shared among the faithful, candles throughout the basilica were lit and the lights gradually rose.
After the clergy -- 34 cardinals, 24 bishops and 260 concelebrating priests -- processed to the altar, the Exsultet, the solemn Easter proclamation, was sung by Deacon Nicholas Monnin, a seminarian from the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
In the Exsultet, the deacon invited all of creation to rejoice in the light of Christ, a theme echoed in the pope’s homily.
"The light of the Resurrection illumines our path one step at a time; quietly, it breaks through the darkness of history and shines in our hearts, calling for the response of a humble faith, devoid of all triumphalism," Pope Francis wrote.
The pope acknowledged that the Resurrection does not erase the suffering of the world but enters into it. "We cannot celebrate Easter without continuing to deal with the nights that dwell in our hearts and the shadows of death that so often loom over our world," he said in his written message.
"Christ indeed conquered sin and destroyed death," he wrote. "Yet in our earthly history the power of his Resurrection is still being brought to fulfilment. And that fulfilment, like a small seed of light, has been entrusted to us, to protect it and to make it grow."
During the Mass, Cardinal Re baptized three catechumens: two Italians and one Albanian. He also confirmed them and gave them their first Communion.
In his homily, the pope emphasized that the Resurrection is not a private consolation but a call to witness for all Christians.
Through small, everyday actions and decisions inspired by the Gospel "our whole life can be a presence of hope," he wrote. "We want to be that presence for those who lack faith in the Lord, for those who have lost their way, for those who have given up or are weighed down by life; for those who are alone or overwhelmed by their sufferings; for all the poor and oppressed in our world; for the many women who are humiliated and killed; for the unborn and for children who are mistreated; and for the victims of war."
"In the risen Jesus," the pope added, "we have the certainty that our personal history and that of our human family, albeit still immersed in a dark night where lights seem distant and dim, are nonetheless in God’s hands."
The Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis said, is a time for renewed faith and action for Christians. "We should feel strongly within us the summons to let the hope of Easter blossom in our lives and in the world!"
"Let us make room for the light of the risen Lord," he wrote, "and we will become builders of hope for the world."
— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service