Julio Algañaraz
04/04/2021 10:40
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 04/04/2021 10:40
Pope Francis made a dramatic call to the international community in favor of
"a common commitment to overcome the delays" in the distribution of vaccines
against the coronavirus and to "promote their distribution especially in the poorest countries", in his Easter message. .
"Vaccines are an essential tool for this fight," he added.
"The efforts of the international community must be the safeguard of world health."
In a St. Peter's Basilica
with the presence of only 200 faithful
for health reasons due to the pandemic, Francis concluded the Resurrection Mass on Easter Sunday, which culminates Holy Week, with the blessing Urbe et Orbi (to the city of Rome and the world).
Italy is confined for three days
in a rigid quarantine to contain the Third Wave of the pandemic, which is in its most acute phase.
For this reason, the message and the blessing were delivered in the same basilica and not from the balcony of the facade of San Pedro, as is traditional.
In his Easter message, the Pope called for a commitment to overcome the delays in the distribution of vaccines.
Photo EFE.
Jorge Bergoglio, who has completed 84 years and eight years of his pontificate, asked in his Easter message that
"the Lord of consolation and sustains the fatigue of doctors and nurses."
He stressed that "all people, especially the most fragile, require assistance and have the right to access the necessary treatments."
“Good Easter, a holy and serene Easter.
The Easter announcement does not imply an escape route in the face of the serious crisis that we are going through, ”the Pope said at the beginning of his message.
He pointed out that more than a year later the
pandemic continues to wreak havoc and poverty
is spreading and deepening in the world.
The pandemic has increased the number of poor people, but armed conflicts continue "This is today's scandal," he emphasized.
The Resurrection Mass began two hours before the message and the blessing to Rome and the world.
The Gospel was read in Latin and Greek.
The Pope did not read the homily: together with the many concelebrants, he remained silent to reflect on the Resurrection of Christ.
"The risen Christ is the hope for those who still suffer due to the pandemic, for the sick and for those who have lost a loved one," he stressed.
Francis recalled that on his trip to Haiti, Saint John Paul II affirmed that
"it is necessary for the poor to regain hope."
"On this day, my thoughts and encouragement go to the dear people of Hairí, so that they do not let themselves be overwhelmed with difficulties but look to the future with confidence."
Pope Francis asked that vaccines reach all countries, especially the poorest.
Photo EFE.
As always in the papal messages on Easter Sunday, Jorge Bergoglio reviewed some conflicts that mourn the world.
He said that he felt close “to all the youth in the world and at this time to those in Myanmar.
The Pope visited former Burma in 2017 and asked the generals to safeguard the rights of minorities and those who have a voice ”.
These days the country is experiencing a severe test due to the repression unleashed after the military coup d'état with many victims, especially young people.
The pontiff
recalled the "migrants on the run from wars and misery."
“In their faces we recognize the disfigured and suffering face of the Lord who goes up to Calvary.
They should not miss the concrete signs of solidarity and human brotherhood, which signify the victory of life over death that we celebrate this day.
Bergoglio thanked countries such as Lebanon and Jordan "that host many fugitives from the Syrian conflict."
He stressed that after his trip to Iraq, he feels the desire to make a trip to Lebanon, "a country that is going through a period of difficulties and uncertainties."
The Pope also made
a call in favor of "the beloved Syria"
, although he said that "a trip to that country is not planned in the near future."
"Syria is always present in my thoughts and in my prayers," he stressed.
He pointed out that "in the beloved and martyred Syria the armed confrontation, which makes millions of people live in inhuman conditions, must cease."
He also called for reconciliation and peace in Yemen and Libya.
Bergoglio pointed out that on the question of Jerusalem, the line of the Holy See is always the same: work for peace and insist on the two-state solution, in which Israelis and Palestinians find the strength of dialogue in favor of of a stable war.
Regarding the situation in Africa, the pontiff said that
his dream is to make a trip to the Sudan
after visiting Mozambique and Madagascar in September 2019 ”.
"The African populations are at the heart of the Pope, who see their future compromised by internal violence and international terrorism, especially in the Sahel and Nigeria."
At the end of his message, Bergoglio claimed that “Too many wars and too much violence are still in the world!
May the Lord who is our peace help us to overcome the mentality of war ”.
He asked "the rulers of the whole world, to stop the race for new weapons."
Pope Francis delivered his Easter message at the Vatican.
Photo EFE.
This Saturday evening the Easter Vigil ceremony was held in St. Peter's Basilica, culminating with the singing of Gloria and the lighting of the main temple of Christendom that signaled to the faithful present and to the world that Christ had risen.
In his message, Francisco said that Christ is a present person in our lives, not a memory of the past.
His beauty "shines in the simple, in the poor and marginalized", in which he urged the 1,300 baptized to "find Jesus."
His announcement is addressed
"to those who struggle for everyday life, to the excluded, the fragile, the poor,"
said the Pope.
The lights of the Resurrection are the proof, “that it is always possible to start over.
Also from the pandemic ”.
"It is in these dark months of the pandemic that we feel the resurrected Lord who invites us to start over, never to lose hope," said the Argentine pontiff.
The Easter Vigil began with the rite of the blessing of the fire
and the procession to the Altar of the Cathegra, where the Pope presided over the liturgy, inviting the entire Church to rekindle hope.
"Also from the ruinous fragments of our humanity, God prepares a new life."
"Jesus" is alive, Resurrected.
It leads the story, it never ceases to amaze us, it invites us to overcome barriers, to overcome prejudices, to get closer to who is close to us.
The Pope urged everyone to "walk new paths."
"Going to Galilee, which means learning that faith, to be alive, must set out again, renew itself every day, go to the limits."
“Galilee is the most distant place, in that region live those who were far from the ritual purity of Jerusalem.
And there Jesus began his mission, because no one is last and excluded ”, Francis concluded.
Vatican, correspondent