Catholic News Headlines for Monday, 04/18/22

As thousands filled Saint Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday Mass, Pope Francis again spoke out against the war in Ukraine.

Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated his first Easter as the leader of the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Instead of filling Easter baskets, some pastors filled gas tanks over the weekend.

Pope Francis on Easter: ‘We Have Seen All Too Much Blood’

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.

Like the disciples who were at first doubtful of Jesus rising from the dead, “our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war,” the pope said as he prepared April 17 to give his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).

“We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing,” he said.

Nevertheless, Christ’s victory over death “is not an illusion” and the world needs “the crucified and risen Lord so that we can believe in the victory of love, and hope for reconciliation.”

Earlier in the day, the Vatican said an estimated 55,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the first outdoor Easter Mass since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. A vast floral arrangement adorned the steps leading to the basilica, highlighting the festive atmosphere.

According to Vatican News, the display of flowers, imported from the Netherlands, featured more than 40,000 individual flowers, plants and trees, including tulips, daffodils, and birch trees that accented the joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Pope Francis did not deliver a homily during the Mass; instead, a hushed silence filled the packed square for several minutes of quiet, prayerful reflection.

As Mass progressed, tens of thousands more began lining the streets outside the square. The Vatican said police estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the post-Mass blessing.

Before the blessing, the pope, standing on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressed the crowd. However, due to knee problems that have caused him difficulty walking and standing for long periods of time, the pope sat and spoke for part of his address.

In his address, the pope said the joyous announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is sorely needed “at the end of a Lent that has seemed endless.”

“We emerged from two years of pandemic, which took a heavy toll,” the pope said. “It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, pooling our strengths and resources.”

However, the pope said that instead of unity, the world has shown that “we still have within us the spirit of Cain, who saw Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thought about how to eliminate him.”

Only Christ, he added, who bears the wounds inflicted “upon him by our sins, by our hardness of heart, by our fratricidal hatred” has the right “to speak to us of peace.”

“The wounds on the body of the risen Jesus are the sign of the battle he fought and won for us, won with the weapons of love, so that we might have peace and remain in peace,” the pope said.

Continuing his address, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and for its people who have been “sorely tried” by the “cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” and he urged world leaders to listen to the “people’s plea for peace.”

“May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” the pope said. “Please, let us not get used to war! Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets!”

The pope also prayed for the countless Ukrainian refugees forced to flee the horrors of war, especially children who were left orphaned.

“As we look at them, we cannot help but hear their cry of pain, along with that of all those other children who suffer throughout our world: those dying of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those denied the right to be born,” he prayed.

Pope Francis also prayed that the war in Ukraine may make the world more aware of the suffering caused by war in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, which has been “racked by years of conflict and division.”

The pope prayed for peace in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as the Holy Land.

“May Israelis, Palestinians and all who dwell in the holy city, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, dwell in fraternity and enjoy free access to the holy places in mutual respect for the rights of each,” he said.

He also called for peace in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, a country he said “suffers from a conflict forgotten by all, with continuous victims.”

The pope prayed that Jesus would bring peace to the African continent “so that the exploitation it suffers and the hemorrhaging caused by terrorist attacks — particularly in the Sahel region — may cease, and that it may find concrete support in the fraternity of the peoples.”

He also prayed that Ethiopia may continue on the path of reconciliation and dialogue and for an end to violence in Congo. The pope also expressed solidarity for the people of South Africa who have suffered due to devastating floods in the eastern part of the country.

Turning his attention toward Latin America, Pope Francis prayed for its people “who have seen their social conditions worsen in these difficult times of pandemic, exacerbated as well by instances of crime, violence, corruption and drug trafficking.”

He also prayed the Indigenous people of Canada, whom he met earlier in the month to apologize for the church’s role in running residential schools, where many children suffered abuse.

“Let us ask the risen Lord to accompany the journey of reconciliation that the Catholic Church in Canada is making with the Indigenous peoples. May the spirit of the risen Christ heal the wounds of the past and dispose hearts to seek truth and fraternity,” he said.

Standing up from his seat before delivering his blessing, Pope Francis said that while the world suffers the consequences of war, the resurrected Christ who conquered death “exhorts us not to surrender to evil and violence.”

“May we be won over by the peace of Christ! Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility!” the pope said.

Ukraine’s Way of the Cross: Papal Almoner Prays at Mass Grave

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mass graves and the deceased still lying along the roadside became a kind of “Way of the Cross” where Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, stopped and prayed.

Pope Francis had sent the cardinal to Ukraine to spend Triduum and Easter with the people there as his special envoy.

On the way back to Kyiv from Borodyanka, a town that had been under control of Russian forces, the cardinal and archbishop prayed amid the ruins and bodies of those killed, including by an unmarked mass grave, he told Vatican News April 15.

“We found many dead and a grave with at least 80 people, buried without a name,” he said.

The scenes left them speechless, he said, but “Thank goodness there is faith and that this is Holy Week, Good Friday, when we can unite ourselves with the person of Christ and go up with him onto the cross.”

“There will be the Sunday of the resurrection,” he said, and maybe then God will “explain everything to us with his love and change everything within us too, this bitterness and this suffering that we have been carrying for a few days, but particularly from today.”

The cardinal celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper April 14 with the foot washing ritual and he delivered a second ambulance to a hospital in Kyiv.

He told the Vatican newspaper April 15 that many doctors and staff thanked the pope for the gift and for being close to the people there and their suffering.

He said the head of the largest cardiological hospital in Kyiv told him that, as doctors, they have to be like the Good Samaritan, which means not just helping wounded Ukrainians — both civilians and soldiers — but also Russians.

“A difficult thing for him, to perform procedures with the knowledge that he has men before him who may have killed many people,” the cardinal said.

But, he said, the doctor explained to him that this is what it means to be a doctor, a Samaritan and a human being, “despite the bitterness in the heart and the feelings one has inside.”

Cardinal Krajewski said the doctor’s words were like “pure Gospel: It is difficult, but when we follow it, it is beautiful like spring and everything blooms.”

“I learned a lot from this head doctor; it was worth traveling by ambulance for thousands of kilometers” to hear his words, he said.

Bishop Robert Brennan’s Full Easter Homily

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Happy Easter! Welcome one and all to the Cathedral Basilica of St. James this glorious Easter Morning! A warm welcome to all who join us via live-stream and NET TV.

“Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough.” It seems like a strange image that St Paul gives us for Easter Sunday, doesn’t it? Sounds a little bit more like a cooking show than an Easter proclamation. But St. Paul is connecting us this Easter to the Jewish celebration of the Passover. You see, St. Paul would have been VERY familiar with the Passover customs of the day, which included clearing out all the old bread, all the old yeast in the household so as to be able to make the unleavened bread that recalled the hurried escape of the Jewish people as God rescued them from slavery in Egypt centuries before. The Passover tradition allows God’s people to relive their liberation from slavery and the beginning of a new life, of new freedom, a new identity as people consecrated to the Lord. (Cf Montgomery, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.) Leaving out even a little yeast around the house, it will get into, corrupt, infect the new batch, and will spread so that you no longer have the unleavened bread necessary for the Passover feast.

St. Paul goes on, “For our Christ, our Paschal lamb, Christ has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Hearing this today we are exhorted to get rid of the bitterness and malice that might infect our own hearts, so that we might celebrate today with sincerity and truth.

Bitterness, anger, disappointment, guilt, hurts and wounds can certainly weigh us down. And let’s be honest, these can be very valid. We may be hurting with very good reason. Moreover, we are horrified by the aggression and destruction in Ukraine along with the targeting of civilians, even of children. We are united in prayer for them and I thank you for your generosity in response to helping those who are giving relief. We still feel the effects of the pandemic that afflicted us these last two years. And we cry out against the violence afflicting our city – not only the recent subway shootings but also the violence on our streets.

But I have some news for you: CHRIST IS RISEN! Yes, Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. He has conquered sin and death. There is no evil stronger than he. Through his cross and Resurrection, we have been rescued from slavery to sin and death to begin a new life, a life of freedom and a new identity as people consecrated to the Lord. His resurrection changes everything.

So yes, get rid of the old yeast of bitterness, malice and wickedness and let yourself be formed into a new creation in Jesus Christ. We just heard the Easter proclamation of the empty tomb. Think of Jesus’ appearances after his Resurrection. Think of Mary Magdalene – in her grief she couldn’t get away from the tomb. Last night, in the Vigil, we heard from the Gospel of Luke: the angels asked the women in the tomb, why do you seek the living among the dead? It is tempting to linger at the tombs, nursing our wounds.

Think of the disciples locked in fear and in doubt. They were wallowing in grief having let Jesus down, and let’s face it, what would become of their lives now? They left everything to follow him. What now? They felt let down themselves by Him, by God. But Jesus makes his way through the locked doors and the closed hearts. He makes it through with his message of Shalom: peace, conciliation, trust. He appears to Mary and calls her by name. And He wants to break through the things that weigh us down to give us life.

On this Easter Sunday, we defy the violence and oppression. We recall something past and something true – Jesus rose, but that’s not all. We celebrate the future – we too will rise and live forever, but that’s not all. We celebrate Jesus risen and alive today. He comes to us today to cast out the old yeast, to make us new, to give new direction and hope to our lives. Let us celebrate this feast then with sincerity and truth. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. He is truly Risen, Alleluia.