Nouvelles originelles en espagnol
"We need the Crucified One to believe in the victory of love, to hope in reconciliation. Today, more than ever, we need Him, so that He may stand in our midst and say to us once again: "Peace be with you!" "Let us allow the peace of Christ to enter into our lives, our homes and our countries", encouraged Father François.
A Saint-Père with a face marked with anxiety and sadness that, only the faithful present on Saint-Pierre Square (more than one hundred thousand according to the Vatican official agency) that he greeted from the papamobile on this day of bright sunshine, and thousands of flowers for the solitude of Pâques, which the Pope has always described as "Pâques de la guerre", have been able to warm.
"Peace be with you", the greeting of Jesus to all those to whom he appears after his resurrection, was perhaps the message of the Lord most often repeated by François yesterday at the central balcony of the Saint-Pierre basilica, after "two years of pandemic that have left deep traces". "It seemed as if the moment had come to leave the tunnel together, holding each other by the hand, reassembling forces and resources. On the contrary, we show that we still have in us the spirit of Cain, who sees Abel not as a brother but as a rival, and thinks of the way to eliminate him", the Pope declared.
As one could expect, the envoy of Rome has launched an appeal for "peace in martyrised Ukraine, although it has long been exterminated by the violence and destruction of the cruel and insensitive war in which it has been involved. May a new cloud of hope soon rise above this terrible night of suffering and death. May peace be chosen. May there be no more demonstration of strength while the people suffer."
"If it pleases you, if it pleases you," demanded the Roman Pontiff, "let us not become accustomed to war, let us all commit ourselves to call for peace with a strong voice, from the balconies and in the streets. May the leaders of the nations understand the people's cry for peace", he wrote from Pierre's time, before giving the blessing "Urbi et Orbi" to thousands of believers.
"Redécouvrez-le, le vivant".
During the Easter Vigil, in the sunset of Saint Saturday, the Pope encouraged us not to remain to look at the tombs, at the past. "We cannot do Pâques if we remain in death, if we remain prisoners of the past, if in life we do not have the courage to let ourselves be pardoned by God...., to change, to break with the works of evil, to decide for Jesus and for his love, if we continue to reduce faith to an amulet, making of God a beautiful memory of times past, instead of meeting him today as the living God who wants to transform us and transform the world. "
"A Christianity that seeks the Lord among the garments of the past and nurses him in the tomb of habit is a Christianity without Pâques. But the Lord is resuscitated! We are not resting around the tombs, but we are going to rediscover Him, He, the Living One", exhorted the Pope.
"Les femmes voient, entendent et proclament."
Lors de la Veillée, il avait fait référence aux femmes de l'Évangile, qui "voient", et ont vu que "la pierre a été roulée". "Quand elles entrèrent, elles ne trouvèrent pas le corps du Seigneur Jésus". The first annunciation of the Resurrection, says the Pontiff, does not appear as a form to be understood, but "as a sign to be contemplated". Pâques thus begins with a change in our habits. It is accompanied by a surprising hope. But it is not easy to accept it. Sometimes - we must admit it - this hope has no place in our hearts. In us too, as with the women of the Évangile, questions and uncertainties prevail, and the first reaction to the printed sign is fear, "not to lift our eyes from the ground".
But women "understand the proclamation "who tells them: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? "Il n'est pas ici : il est ressuscité !"Le Pape a fait remarquer que cela nous fait du bien d'entendre et de répéter ces mots : "Il n'est pas là !".
Et les femmes "annoncent". "What are they announcing? The joy of the resurrection. Pâques does not come to intimately console those who mourn the death of Jesus - the Pontiff emphasized - but to open wide the hearts to the extraordinary annunciation of the victory of God over evil and death". "For this reason, the light of the Resurrection (...) engenders missionary disciples who "come back from the tomb" and bring to all the risen Christ's Eternal Life. This is why, after having seen and understood, the women pray to announce to the disciples the joy of the Resurrection".
Une "Pâques de la guerre".
In his message of Pâques, Pope seemed to continue the line of his meditation of the Vigil on the Resurrection of Jesus, and applied it to difficult current situations.
"Jesus, the Crucified One, is resuscitated. He appears in the midst of those who mourn for him, sick in their homes, full of fear and anguish. He lies down in their midst and says to them: "Peace be with you" (Jn 20:19). He shows them the pain in his hands and feet, and the blessing at his side. This is not a phantom, it is He, the same Jesus who is dead on the cross and who was in the tomb. Before the incredulous eyes of the disciples, he answers: "Peace be with you" (v. 21)."
"Nos yeux sont également incrédules dans cette Pâque de la guerre," a-t-il poursuivi. "Nous avons vu trop de sang, trop de violence. Our hearts were also filled with fear and anguish, because so many of our brothers and sisters and brothers and sisters and brothers and sisters were forced to hide to defend themselves from the bombs. We have the misfortune to believe that Jesus is truly resuscitated, that He has truly vanquished death. Is this an illusion, a figment of our imagination? No, it is not an illusion. Today, today, more than ever, the annunciation of Pâques si chère à l'Orient chrétien is heard: "The Christ is resuscitated, he is truly ressuscitated! Today more than ever, we need Him, at the end of a Carême that does not seem to want to end".
"Je porte les victimes ukrainiennes dans mon cœur".
Ukraine, Europe. Le Pape then confided: "I carry in my heart the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and people displaced inside the country, the divided families, the elderly people left alone, the roads destroyed and the towns razed. J'ai sous les yeux le spectacle d'enfants orphelins et fuyant la guerre".
"Looking at them, we can only understand their cries of pain, as well as those of so many other children who suffer in the world: those who die of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those to whom we have refused the right to be born.
"In the midst of the pain of war, signs of hope are ever present, such as the open doors of so many families and communities welcoming migrants and refugees across Europe. May these many acts of charity be a blessing for our societies, often degraded by so much selfishness and individualism, and contribute to making them welcoming for all".
Attentive to pain and suffering
And, as it is of course at least at Christmas and in Pâques, Pope François has also traveled around the world, or almost. "The conflict in Europe may also make us more attentive to other situations of tension, suffering and pain that touch too many regions of the world and that we cannot and should not forget," he said.
Moyen-Orient "May peace reign in the Middle East, which has been torn for years by division and conflict. On this glorious day, let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the peace of those who love it (cf. Ps 121 [122]), Christians, Jews and Muslims. May Israelis, Palestinians and all the inhabitants of the Holy City, as well as the Palestinians, experience the beauty of peace, live in fraternity and have free access to the Holy Places, in mutual respect for the rights of each one".
"May peace and reconciliation prevail among the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and in particular among all Christian communities living in the Middle East.
May peace also reign in Libya, so that it recovers stability after years of tensions; and in Yemen, which is suffering from a conflict that has been forgotten by all with untold victims, may the peace signed these last days bring hope to the population".
Myanmar "Nous demandons au Seigneur ressuscité le donnement de la réconciliation pour le Myanmar, où persiste une scène dramatique de haine et de violence, et pour l'Afghanistan, où de dangereuses tensions sociales ne peuvent être apaisées et où une crise humanitaire dramatique tourmente la population."
Afrique "May peace rule over the entire African continent, in order to put an end to the exploitation to which it is subjected and to the haemorrhage caused by terrorist attacks - especially in the Sahelian region - and may it find a concrete help in the fraternity of peoples. May Ethiopia, afflicted by a serious humanitarian crisis, find the path of dialogue and reconciliation, and may it put an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo". May there be no lack of respect and solidarity for the inhabitants of the eastern part of South Africa affected by serious floods."
Latin America "May the risen Christ accompany and assist the people of Latin America who, in these difficult times of pandemic, have seen their social conditions deteriorate in some cases, aggravated also by cases of crime, violence, corruption and drug trafficking."
Canada "We ask the Lord resuscitated to accompany the path of reconciliation that the Canadian Catholic Church is following with the autochthonous peoples. May the Spirit of Christ resuscitated guard the blessings of the past and dispose the hearts to the search for truth and fraternity."
Dear brothers and sisters," concluded Father François, "every war has consequences that touch the whole of humanity: from the pain and tragedy of refugees, to the economic and food crisis whose signs we are already seeing".
"In the face of the persistent signs of war, as in the many and painful defects of life, the Christ, the vanquisher of punishment, fear and death, exhorts us not to bow our heads in the face of evil and violence. Let us be vain for the peace of Christ! Peace is possible, peace is necessary, peace is the first responsibility of all !"
