Pope: Life is stronger than death

VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI, carrying a tall, lit candle, ushered in Christianity’s most joyous celebration with an Easter vigil service, but voiced fears that mankind was groping in darkness, unable to distinguish good from evil.

Easter for Christians commemorates Christ’s triumph over death with His resurrection following His crucifixion.

“Life is stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Truth is stronger than lies,” Benedict, wearing white robes in a symbol of new life, told the faithful in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday midnight.

Still, Benedict worried in his homily: “The darkness that poses a real threat to mankind, after all, is the fact that he can see and investigate tangible material things, but cannot see where the world is going or whence it comes, where our own life is going, what is good and what is evil.”

“The darkness enshrouding God and obscuring values is the real threat to our existence and to the world in general,” the Pope said.

“If God and moral values, the difference between good and evil, remain in darkness, then all other ‘lights,’ that put such incredible technical feats within our reach, are not only progress but also dangers that put us and the world at risk,” he added.

The three-hour service began dramatically. Except for the twinkle of camera flashes, the basilica was almost pitch-black as the thousands of faithful in pews awaited Benedict’s arrival through the rear entrance.

After aides lit the candle, Benedict climbed aboard a raised platform that was wheeled up the long main aisle to the central altar. The wheeled device is used to save wear and tear on the pontiff, who turns 85 on April 16.

True enlightenment

Benedict, who has made protection of the environment a theme of his papacy, made a reference to urban pollution in his homily.

“Today, we can illuminate our cities so brightly that the stars in the sky are no longer visible,” he said. “Is this not an image of the problems caused by our version of enlightenment?”

“With regard to material things, our knowledge and our technical accomplishments are legion, but what reaches beyond, the things of God and the question of good, we can no longer identify,” Benedict added, saying that faith was the “true enlightenment.”

During the vigil ceremony, Benedict welcomed eight adult converts to the Church, pouring water over their bowed heads in baptism.

Twelve hours later, Benedict celebrated Easter Sunday Mass in sun-drenched, flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, before tens of thousands of people.

Benedict sounded hoarse and looked tired at the start of the Mass at an altar set up on the steps outside St. Peter’s Basilica.

At the end of Easter Mass, Benedict moved to the central balcony of the basilica and  delivered his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (To the city and the world) speech.

He appealed for peace in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, and particularly in Africa, citing coup-struck Mali and Nigeria, where Christians and Muslims alike have been hit by terrorist attacks.

Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, thousands of Christians gathered for Easter Sunday to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, crowding into one of Christianity’s holiest churches, worshipping, singing and praying.

Catholics and Protestants took in turns in holding ceremonies within the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

Inside, clergymen in flowing white and gold robes celebrated Mass, the air thick with incense plumes.

Believers swarmed through the winding church—a series of cave-like spaces decked with ornate decorations and stairways leading to galleries and descending into dark, cavernous rooms, joined by a soaring dome roof.

Different and often feuding Christian sects control parts of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, heavy with incense, filled with scurrying monks and awed crowds.

Italian Premier Mario Monti, who was in the church on a private visit, shook hands with pilgrims and spoke to monks in the Old City.

Smashed eggs

Thousands of Palestinian Catholics smashed boiled egg shells against each other, representing Jesus’ emerging from His tomb. They ate circular bread symbolizing His crown of thorns.

They greeted each other with the Arabic felicitation, “Christ has arisen,” prompting the response: “Verily he has arisen.”

“Jesus promised us salvation and hopefully, we will be worthy of it, because He is truthful of His promise to us,” said Fr. Marwan Deidis, the local priest

There are about 110,000 Arab Christians in the Holy Land, along with thousands of Christian foreign workers, asylum seekers, and Russian-speaking immigrants.

Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims from outside the region also flocked to Jerusalem and the Holy Land for Easter rites.

Outside the ancient city’s walls, several hundred Protestants gathered in the Garden Tomb, where they believe Jesus was buried.

They sat in a sunny, leafy green garden listening to a sermon and sung gospel music.

Different calendar

Meanwhile, thousands of other Christians belonging to Eastern Orthodox churches, who celebrate Easter using a different calendar from their Catholic and Protestant brethren, marked Palm Sunday.

Several dozen Ethiopian Christians who also use the older calendar gathered in a niche of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, wearing long white robes, decked in white, blue and black rimless hats.

They sang in their ancient language, marking off beats with a silver instrument that made a rattling sound.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, dozens of Greek Orthodox Palestinian Christians celebrated Palm Sunday.

They gathered into their tiny stone-built church, painted sky-blue and decorated with icons of Jesus, His mother Mary and other saints.

Four young men garbed in white and gold robes sung from prayer books, believers lit candles and chanted in Arabic, recording the journey made to Jerusalem, where His followers decked His path with palms and olive branches.

“Jesus went to Jerusalem to call people to peace,” said Jaber Abdullah Jindi, a Gazan Christian. “And just as He did, we hope that there will be peace in all the region, especially in Palestine.” AP