Pope Francis: “Sometimes we are helpless in the face of the icy winds of war”
Pope Francis began the solemn celebration in the Vatican Basilica Easter Vigil in the Holy Night. The rite begins in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica with the blessing of the fire and the preparation of the Paschal candle. The procession to the altar, with the paschal candle lit and the singing of the Exultet, is followed by the liturgy of the Word and the baptismal liturgy, during which the Pope administers the sacraments of Christian initiation to 8 neophytes from Albania, United States of America, Nigeria, Italy and Venezuela.
After lighting the Paschal candle, the Pontiff followed in wheelchairs the procession in a dark Basilica, according to the dictates of the liturgy. Then the candles of the faithful present were lit, starting with the 40 cardinals and 25 concelebrating bishops.
Then, after the third invocation “Lumen Christi”, all the lights of St. Peter’s went on. The Pope has taken his seat, to the right of the altar.
Urbi et orbi, the Pope does not renounce the Easter rite
“Sometimes helpless in the face of the icy winds of war”
“Sometimes we simply felt the fatigue of carrying on with everyday life, tired of risking ourselves in front of the rubber wall of a world where the laws of the smartest and the strongest always seem to prevail. Other times, we felt helpless and discouraged before the power of evilto the conflicts that tear relationships apart, to the logic of calculation and indifference that seem to govern society, to the cancer of corruption, there is so much, to the spread of injustice, to the icy winds of war”. Pope Francis said in the homily of the Easter Vigil.
Sometimes “we may have found ourselves face to face with death, because it has robbed us of the sweet presence of our loved ones or because it has touched us in sickness or calamities, and we have easily fallen prey to disillusionment and the source of hope has dried up. Thus, for these or other situations, our paths stop in front of the tombs and we remain motionless crying and regretting, alone and powerless to repeat our whys”. He added Pope Francis in his homily.
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