Pope Francis made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday to deliver his Urbi et Orbi (which translates as “to the city and to the world”) message, in line with tradition.
But this year’s speech was unusual. The pope, recovering from bilateral pneumonia, sat on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as Archbishop Diego Ravelli read his text out loud.
The Easter message begins by celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, calling it “indeed the basis of our hope.” It continues:
For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion. Thanks to Christ — crucified and risen from the dead — hope does not disappoint! Spes non confundit! (cf. Rom 5:5). That hope is not an evasion, but a challenge; it does not delude, but empowers us.
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. Together with the risen Jesus, they become pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of Life.
Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life. Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again! 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.
What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of our world! How much violence we see, often even within families, directed at women and children! How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!
On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!
The pope wrote, “I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible!” and expressed his wishes for peace throughout the world, specifically mentioning the Israeli and Palestinian people; the Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria; Yemen; Ukraine; the South Caucasus; and Balkans; and parts of Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan and South Sudan.
He concludes:
In the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever (cf. Easter Sequence). He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new (cf. Rev. 21:5)!
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