Pope condemns Syrian bus bombing, urges Catholics to keep the faith

Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday condemned a bomb blast on a crowded Syrian bus convoy that killed at least 112 people outside Aleppo as an “ignoble” attack, even as he encouraged those with “fearful hearts” to keep the faith.

“May [God] in a particular way sustain the efforts of those who are actively working to bring healing and comfort to the civilian population of Syria, the beloved and martyred Syria, who are victims of a war that does not cease to sow horror and death,” Pope Francis said in his Easter Sunday message to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

Ignoble attack

“Yesterday was the latest ignoble attack on fleeing refugees,” he said, referring to the blast that hit buses carrying Shiite residents as they waited to cross from rebel into government territory in an evacuation deal between the warring sides.

Pope Francis also encouraged people to hold fast in their “fearful hearts” to faith despite all the wars, sickness and hatred in the world, acknowledging that many wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering.

The Catholic faithful braved heavy security checks—and, later, a brief downpour from what had been sunny skies—to enter St. Peter’s Square where Francis celebrated Mass on the steps leading to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Traditionally, the pope gives no homily during the late-morning Easter Mass, saving his reflections for the “Urbi et Orbi”—a solemn message delivered “to the city and to the world”—at noon from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Nagging question

But Francis broke with that tradition, giving an off-the-cuff homily during Mass to try to answer what he described as a nagging question for many faithful: why there are so many tragedies and wars in the world if Jesus has risen from the dead, a belief Christians celebrate each Easter.

“The Church never ceases to say, faced with our defeats, our closed and fearful hearts, ‘stop, the Lord is risen.’ But if the Lord is risen, how come these things happen?” Francis said, citing accidents, illnesses, human trafficking, revenge and hatred, among other suffering.

Mystery of faith

“Nobody asks us: ‘But, are you happy with all that’s happening in the world? Are you willing to go forward,’ carrying a cross, as Jesus did?” Francis asked the faithful.

Francis gestured toward the potted hyacinths, tulips and daffodils, as well as bouquets of pink roses, arranged in neat rows on the steps leading to the imposing church.

Easter “isn’t a party with lots of flowers. This is pretty, but it’s not this, it’s more than this,” Francis said, describing the day as an occasion to ponder the mystery of faith.

Francis said Easter brought “a sign in the midst of so many calamities: a sense of looking beyond, of saying don’t look to a wall, there’s a horizon, there’s life, there is joy.” —Reports from the wires

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