This year Easter has taken on a different meaning from usual in the Holy Land, the place par excellence of the Paschal mystery. For the first time after many years, the Christian Churches of the different confessions celebrated the Resurrection on the same day, an event which aroused a deep feeling of unity and communion between the various confessions.
In this climate of intense spirituality and reconciliation, the traditional Easter greetings between the Churches took place with renewed fervour and mutual respect. The fraternal visits between the representatives of the confessions – Latin Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian – were characterized by gestures of peace, sincere embraces and words that stressed the common faith in the Risen Christ.
The Custody of the Holy Land, the heart of the Franciscan presence in the Holy Places, received and made the visits in a spirit of service and fraternity. Easter, shred this year, is a sign of the common faith in Christ and reminds us that, despite the differences, we are all witnesses of the same founding event: the victory of life over death. This was the message of the Custos of the Holy Land during the greetings to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
However, the Easter joy was also accompanied by a moment of grief and reflection: the return to the House of the Father of Pope Francis. The mourning for the loss of the Holy Father has brought the Christian communities of the Holy Land even closer together, and they decided to remember him in the official greetings.
“The Holy Father was a shepherd who deeply loved this land,” said Antonius, the Coptic Patriarch of Jerusalem, “and he was also greatly loved by our community for his humble spirit and his closeness to the last of this world.” The other Churches also expressed their grief and vicinity to the Church of Rome, reinforcing the sense of ecumenical solidarity.
The Easter message of Pope Francis, the Custos Fra Francesco Patton, underscored, is a spiritual testament for the Custody and for the Church: his dedication for the Holy Land and for peace between the peoples who live there was and will be an important support for the Franciscan mission and for the people of God.
In a Land marked by divisions, the common celebration of Easter and the shared memory of a universal shepherd appeared as signs of hope, seeds of communion that continue to grow between the thousand year-old stones of Jerusalem.
By Francesco Guaraldi | custodia
Source Link: https://www.custodia.org/en/news/greetings-between-churches-under-the-banner-of-unity-and-remembrance/
