Unusual Easter As Pope Francis Preaches To Near Empty Cathedral

It is Easter today but you would almost not believe so were you at the St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where traditional Easter masses are celebrated with fanfare.
This year’s case was different no kudos to coronavirus which ensure that Pope Francis preached to a nearly empty cathedral.

In an atmosphere of solitude he called for the world to come together in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The world is “oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family,” Francis said, according to a translation provided by the Vatican. In the midst of that suffering, Francis said, the message that Christ has risen is “the contagion of hope.”

“For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties,”

“May Jesus, our Passover, grant strength and hope to doctors and nurses, who everywhere offer a witness of care and love for our neighbors, to the point of exhaustion and not infrequently at the expense of their own health”, Pope Francis preached.

The Eagle monitored reports on Easter celebration online and quotes npr.org as reporting the pope both semonising and pumping up hope in the service that was streamed live to millions around the world.

He also echoed similar ceremonies throughout the world, held in front of empty pews as congregants stayed home and watched over the internet.

Francis implored political leaders to relax international sanctions, which he said harm citizens who rely on support from their governments. Francis called for nations to reduce — or even forgive — the poorest countries’ debts. And he asked for an “immediate global ceasefire” for all nations engaged in conflicts.

Francis likened the current adversity to the hardship Europe faced rebuilding after World War II.

“This continent was able to rise again, thanks to a concrete spirit of solidarity that enabled it to overcome the rivalries of the past,” Francis said. “It is more urgent than ever, especially in the present circumstances, that these rivalries do not regain force, but that all recognize themselves as part of a single family and support one another.”