Scottish Catholic Observer

The risen Jesus ‘makes us sharers of his immortal life and enables us to see with his eyes of love and compassion those who hunger and thirst, strangers and prisoners, the marginalised and the outcast, the victims of oppression and violence,’ the Pope said after celebrating Easter morning Mass.

Easter in Rome dawned bright and sunny; in St Peter’s Square, the steps leading up to the basilica were turned into an abundant garden with thousands of tulips, daffodils and flowering bushes.

On Easter morning, the Pope does not give a homily. Instead, with hands clasped in prayer and head bowed, he led the tens of thousands of people in the square in silent reflection.

After Mass, before giving his solemn blessing, Pope Francis said Easter should give people the courage to ‘blaze trails of reconciliation with God and with all our brothers and sisters.’

Speaking about Christ’s power over death and sin, the Pope expressed hope that ‘will draw us closer to the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence,’ praying that the Lord would touch places in the globe scarred by war, terrorism, poverty and environmental destruction.

“The risen Christ points out paths of hope to beloved Syria, a country torn by a lengthy conflict, with its sad wake of destruction, death, contempt for humanitarian law and the breakdown of civil concord,” the Holy Father said.

“To the power of the risen Lord we entrust the talks now in course.”

He prayed that the power of the Resurrection would ‘overcome hardened hearts and promote a fruitful encounter of peoples and cultures,’ particularly in Iraq, Yemen, Libya and the Holy Land.

“May the Lord of life also accompany efforts to attain a definitive solution to the war in Ukraine, inspiring and sustaining initiatives of humanitarian aid, including the liberation of those who are detained,” he prayed.