It is on the immense Saint Peter's Square in Rome, crowded with people, that Pope Francis usually presides over Easter Mass where he gives his traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi". It is the most important liturgical moment in the Christian tradition, which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.

But this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis will respect, on Sunday, April 12, the strict confinement ordered in Italy and in Vatican City. He will stay in Saint Peter's Basilica surrounded by a tiny group of celebrants, the faithful can follow him on Mondovision or on the Internet.

"Darkness and death do not have the last word," underlined the pope in a homily pronounced Saturday evening in the basilica, on the eve of Easter, stressing that this feast constitutes "an announcement of hope".

"All will be well, we say tenaciously in these weeks, clinging to the beauty of our humanity and raising words of encouragement from the heart. But, with the passing days and the growing fears, even hope the most daring can evaporate ", he noted during the Easter Vigil. However "we can and we must hope", despite "sad days".

"Let’s silence the death cry, wars are enough!"

Pope Francis had recently joined the United Nations' call for an immediate and global ceasefire to preserve the most vulnerable civilians in countries in conflict from the coronavirus. "Let us silence the cry of death, that is enough wars! Let the production and the arms trade stop, because it is bread and not guns that we need", he launched on Saturday evening in his homily.

The coronavirus has killed more than 100,000 people worldwide and forced half of humanity into containment, but the impact of the pandemic on wars in the Middle East remains unclear.

In war for five years, and the scene of one of the worst humanitarian crises, Yemen announced, on Friday, a first case of contamination of Covid-19. But a ceasefire unilaterally declared from Thursday by the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a power ally in Yemen, does not seem to hold. And in Syria, fighting is raging in the east of the province of Homs.

Easter celebrations, which usually coincide with a large influx of tourists to Rome, have for the past few years been the subject of a huge anti-terrorist security system. This year, in completely empty streets, the police were tasked with carrying out reinforced controls to dissuade the Romans from going to the air by spreading the coronavirus.

In Jerusalem, for the first time in more than a century, the Holy Sepulcher - considered the holiest place in Christianity - will be closed to the public during the Easter weekend in Israel. An Easter mass will also be celebrated there without an audience.

Confessions in the car to avoid contamination

The Catholic Church seems to have largely applied the instructions prohibiting religious gatherings, sometimes competing in imagination.

Catholic priests from Acapulco, a famous port and seaside resort in southern Mexico, proposed Holy Thursday to the faithful to confess without getting out of their car, in order to avoid contamination.

In a handful of American states, some Protestant churches have called for collective prayer gatherings as Easter approaches, ignoring the cautionary statements.

And in Bulgaria, the Orthodox churches will be open for Easter, which is held a week apart from Catholics and Protestants. Both the clergy and the government refused to impose strict confinement on the faithful. The spokesman of the Bulgarian Synod, Metropolitan Gavraïl, assured that "faith protects" and that "infection cannot be transmitted in a church".

With AFP

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