In many Catholic communities across Asia, the sacrament of Christian initiation for adults is celebrated during the Easter Vigil. The testimony of Iwane Toshiya, published on the Japanese Catholics’ website. His encounter with the Catholic community through his wife and his daughters’ questions. “Little by little, I felt that surprising words such as those of the Beatitudes were entering my daily life.”
The Franciscan Amedeo Ricco – one of the key figures in the excavations that have brought to light new evidence supporting the Gospel accounts – comments on the celebrations in Jerusalem following the ‘incident’ on Palm Sunday. ‘We are experiencing a quieter Easter, which takes us back to our roots. But the Sepulchre remains the living heart from which to proclaim that death does not have the final say.’
A Russian online platform is currently broadcasting a series of documentaries entitled ‘The Living Word’, dedicated to great figures of Orthodoxy who were killed in the years following the Bolshevik Revolution. These figures remind us that one can give one’s life for ideals that unite religious faith, evangelical charity and love for one’s homeland – not to destroy the enemy, but to build a new world.
Today’s headlines: US and Iranian forces continue the search for the American pilot who went missing after his aircraft was shot down; Tokyo wants to ease restrictions on defence exports, opening the door to lethal weapons; At least eight people have died in Afghanistan following a 5.9-magnitude earthquake; The Phnom Penh Parliament approves first legislation to combat online scam centres.
The Pope presided over the traditional Good Friday service, personally carrying the crucifix through all 14 stations. At the end, he recited only the words of a prayer by St Francis, the 800th anniversary of whose death falls this year. The former Custos of the Holy Land, Father Patton, recalled in his meditations that “even those who start a war will have to answer for it before God”.
Christians are taking part in Holy Week rites torn between traditional fervour and the burden of an explosive and unpredictable regional context, feeling occupied from within by Hezbollah and bearing the already considerable human cost of the war with Israel. Churches are packed for Good Friday in areas spared from the bombardment. Divisions among Christian leaders weigh heavily.
