Regina Caeli: ‘Good News sheds light upon every shadow, in every age,’ pope said
“The despair of death is swept away forever,” Leo XIV said on Easter Monday. Although “fake news” shroud Christian witness, "the truth does not remain hidden”. Proclaiming Easter is giving voice to hope “stifled by the hands of the violent.” Remembering Pope Francis, Leo said that the pontiff who passed away on 21 April 2025 bore “profound witness of faith and love”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Christ is risen! Happy Easter!" said Pope Leo XIV in St Peter's Square at 12 noon for the Regina Caeli on Easter Monday, addressing some 8,000 faithful with the greeting “filled with wonder and joy" that accompanied him throughout the week.
“[I]n the name of Jesus, the despair of death is swept away forever,” the pontiff added, noting that the liturgy at this time celebrates “the entry of all creation into the time of salvation”.
In his commentary preceding the Marian prayer, the pontiff highlighted the contrast that emerges in today's Gospel (Mt 28:8-15) between the story of the women who encounter the Risen One and announce "Christ's victory over death" and that of the guards who find a missing body and announce that "death prevails always”.
Two interpretations are offered, “one a source of new and eternal life, the other of certain and definitive death." From this, the Pope reflected “on the value of Christian witness and the integrity of human communication."
Noting that truth telling is often shrouded by fake news, he said: “Yet, in the face of such obstacles, the truth does not remain hidden; rather, it comes forth to meet us, living and radiant, illuminating even the deepest darkness.”
Addressing the women, Jesus said: “‘Do not be afraid; go and tell’ (v. 10)”. Just as the Risen one “frees the past from a destructive end, so the Easter proclamation redeems our future from the tomb,” so that he “becomes the Good News to be witnessed in the world.”
For Leo, it is important that “this Gospel reach, above all, those oppressed by the evil that corrupts history and confuses consciences!“, including the oppressed people of our time, “peoples afflicted by war,” “Christians persecuted for their faith,” and “children deprived of an education.”
“To proclaim the Paschal mystery of Christ in both word and deed means to give a new voice to hope – a hope otherwise stifled by the hands of the violent,” he said, noting that “the Good News sheds light upon every shadow, in every age.”
Finally, Leo XIV turned his thoughts “in the light of the Risen One” to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday last year, 21 April 2025, at the age of 88.
“As we recall his profound witness of faith and love, let us pray together to the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, that we may become ever more radiant heralds of the truth,” Leo said.
At the end, in his greetings, he addressed the people taking part in the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, renewing his “appeal that sport, with its universal language of fraternity, may be a place of inclusion and peace.”
Turning to the faithful, he said: “I hope you spend this Easter Monday and these days of the Easter Octave – during which we continue to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection – in joy and faith. Let us continue to pray for the gift of peace for the whole world.”
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17/04/2017 12:51
02/04/2018 13:09
