“Peace be with you”: the words of the Risen One beyond evil and death

The Easter message from the editorial director of AsiaNews: ‘From Lebanon to Myanmar, and to the streets of Hong Kong, a long ordeal of suffering. May the spirit of the Risen Jesus, present in our time and in our world, bring comfort and grant peace and freedom.’

“Peace be with you”: this is the greeting of the risen Jesus. It is precisely Jesus’ resurrection that urges us… almost compels us, to hold on to a glimmer of hope in life and in the future at a time when, for so many people and so many nations in Asia, there is violence, evil and death.

With the same wish for peace as Jesus, Pope Leo addressed the world for the first time from St Peter’s Square. Four months ago, he visited Lebanon, a land that has now plunged back into violence which is also affecting Christian communities. On 9 March, Father Pierre El Raii, a 50-year-old Maronite priest and parish priest of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon, was killed during an Israeli attack. In the suffering and martyrdom of so many people – children and their young mothers, young men sent to fight and die – we see the very passion of Jesus.

Not only in Lebanon: the whole land of Jesus has once again become a Calvary of suffering. From the immense and endless tragedy of Gaza, to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Jerusalem means ‘city of peace’, and it is the city where Jesus died and rose again: it is truly a kaleidoscope of all the suffering in the world and the source of hope that life may prevail over death. We were all born in Jerusalem, the city that is our mother: Psalm 87 says so; Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini reiterated this in a striking way.

Our agency has reported, and continues to do so, on the conflicts, old and new, that are causing bloodshed in the Holy Land and across Asia. The conflict sparked by the attacks on Iran is having repercussions in other Arab countries, where the victims are often migrants from other Asian nations. Endless tragedies and suffering. Just as endless as the war in Myanmar seems – terrible and forgotten, but not by us PIME missionaries and the editors of AsiaNews.

I have spent my missionary life among the Chinese people. I now wish to turn my thoughts to the believers in China who suffer severe restrictions on the free practice of their faith. We have never ceased to report on the Christians of China, starting with those belonging to the underground communities. Their stories of resilience, fidelity and witness to the Gospel are a heritage that the whole Church should recognise with greater appreciation.

In Taiwan, people are free, yet worried about a future that remains uncertain and even dangerous. In Hong Kong, many people are in prison, including friends who share our faith in Jesus. We have written this many times, but we feel it is important to reiterate it: they are not in prison because they are Catholics, but because they have remained faithful to the ideals of freedom, democracy and social justice, inspired by the Gospel. I will mention just two: Jimmy Lai and Lee Cheuk-yan. Few honour the exemplary significance of their witness, which has not only a civic meaning but also an evangelical one. We are among those few who honour them, and we will continue to do so.

Happy Easter to the readers of Asianews, and to all our friends in Asia who read and follow us: may the spirit of the risen Jesus, present in our time and in our world, console you and grant you peace and freedom.

In the photo: a moment from the Easter Vigil last night at the parish of the Holy Family