Vatican City, April 8 (DPA) Pope Benedict XVI marked Easter Sunday with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square and a message to the world recalling the “natural calamities and human tragedies that cause innumerable victims and enormous material destruction”.
“I am thinking of the scourge of hunger, of incurable diseases, of terrorism and kidnapping of people, of the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion, of contempt for life, of the violation of human rights and the exploitation of persons,” the pope told thousands of faithful packed in Rome’s famous piazza.
“My thoughts go to recent events in Madagascar, in the Solomon Islands, in Latin America and in other regions of the world,” he added.
The head of the world’s one billion Catholics also spoke of his “apprehension” at the conditions in Darfur, Somalia and other African nations and called for reconciliation and peace in East Timor.
In his message, the pope said Afghanistan continued to be marked by “growing unrest and instability” and noted that while there were “some signs of hope” in the Middle East from dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, “unfortunately nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees”.
Benedict said that while the suffering of innocent children, “victims of war and terrorism, of sickness and hunger”, represented a severe test of the faith of many Catholics, Jesus Christ had “countered the arrogance of evil with the supremacy of his love.”
The ceremony was attended by an estimated 100,000 people and was broadcast on live television in 67 countries.
The pontiff then imparted his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing “to the city and the world” and his Easter greeting in 62 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese and his native German amid chants of “Viva il papa” (long live the pope) from the crowd.
German-born Joseph Ratzinger turns 80 April 16 and was celebrating the second Easter since his 2005 election as pope.
