Translated material
Easter liturgy as life
Performing a rite of washing, dad said: " Those who are upstairs should serve everything. Therefore, I wash your legs ." In total, 12 prisoners from different countries and different religious faiths participated in the ritual of washing the legs. Among them were two girls: one Italian Catholic religion, and the other was a Muslim from Serbia. Italian television, removing the rite of washing the legs, did not show the faces of convicts, and the Italian media, at the request of the Vatican, did not report the personal data of the convicts. At the end of the rite, Francis noted: " We should not always wash our feet to each other - we must help each other. This is what Jesus teaches us, and this is what I do ." Before leaving the correctional institution, Papa gave prisoners Easter chocolate eggs and confectionery in the form of a pigeon of the world, parting minor criminals with the following words: " Go ahead and do not allow you to steal hope! "
The prisoners also presented the dad with products made by their own hands in the carpentry workshop at a correctional institution: a wooden cross and a bench for prayers. Turning to the entire youth of the planet, dad, speaking of the World Catholic youth day, which will be held in July this year in Brazil, said: “ I am happy to meet you in Rio de Janeiro. Get ready, especially spiritually, in your religious communities, because this meeting will be a sign of faith for the whole world! ”
In an interview with the PS, the Priest Don Simone Di Vito, the rector of the arrival of St. Albina, spoke about the differences between the first Easter worship of Pope Francis compared to his predecessors on the throne of St. Peter.
- Definitely, the new dad gave a new impulse to the services in a passionate week. Starting from the Great Thursday, when everyone recalls Jesus’s ministry for the poor, manifested in the ablution of their legs to the apostles. Unlike last year, Pope Francis elected a ministry in prison for young criminals, Called Di Marmo. We are talking about minor teenagers. Dad chose for himself what he had already done, being a cardinal. Having become a dad, he continues his previous activity. The pontiff, being a Roman bishop, wants to plunge into the reality surrounding him, turning to the flock that experiences difficulties and deprivation in order to testify to the world his ministry. This gesture is also a call to the bishops to leave the temple. In particular, this means the rejection of the clearly established ceremonial side of the rite, as if it were something eternal and unchanged. Dad wants to show that the liturgy is life, this is the presence of the Lord in various life situations, among the deprivations to which the marginal sections of the population are subjected to. Dad sets a personal example: the bishop, who left the episcopal department, symbolizing power in order to give a sign with such an act. We all indicate that this gesture is imperious, but it makes it clear that you should not use the attachment of power in order to glorify Jesus.
-Is there anything new in terms of the content of the Easter message of Pope Francis?
- New topics, such as ecology and environment, are certainly affected by topics, topics that the Church has repeatedly affected. All that concerns a person - and this is very important! - Take a central place. In particular, we will talk about a person experiencing difficulties and deprivation. The theme of the resurrection will affect these aspects: who will resurrect? The bearing their cross, people walking the procession will be resurrected. This is the gesture of the newly chosen dad on the first great Thursday as a pontiff: an appeal to people who experience difficulties and deprivation experiencing a bad attitude of others, to sinners, which we all are ... Sin does not mean removal from the Lord forever, on the contrary, as the Papa correctly said, the Lord always forgives, but always merciful, we often get tired of asking him for forgiveness. Or we gave the impression that the Lord was tired of forgive us. On the contrary, we have no strength and courage to ask him for forgiveness for sins, this is the fragility of human existence. I think that dad will give a clear signal about who will resurrect with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Consequently, he will give new hope to the world, showing that he, a pontiff, leads a church that can get out of the sacristy and join the world, although it is not from the world. As Jesus said: you should be in the world, but you are not from this world. I believe that this is the message of the pope.
- In the pre -passerful week, the pontiff met with spiritual leaders of different faiths. Is it possible to expect that the theme of ecumenism will be reflected in his Easter ministry?
-The activities of the current dad as Archbishop Buenos Aires, where there were numerous Jewish and Orthodox communities, with whom he maintained close contacts, both in the official and personal terms, with people adhering to another faith-it is from there that ecumenism comes. Ecumenical activity is not papers, correspondence, conferences, ideologized statements and so on ... If you proceed from such prerequisites, then everyone will remain in their own opinion, with their own idea of what the Church should be. Instead, it is necessary to proceed from the general performance, equality of all participants in the ecumenical process. Dad had already given a sign in this direction - having settled down from the throne, he showed: he is the same as everyone else, at the same level with them. Based on human relations, one can remove the layers that accumulated during the historical process. These layers have accumulated so many over the centuries that now it is very difficult to remove them. Dad shows that they can be removed by overcoming the protocol, its ceremonial part. Dad, hugging the main rabbi, in a family, in a friendly manner, showed that he took a step towards. I believe that such a gesture will give an impulse to the ecumenism at the lower level, proceeding from the teachings of Jesus about universal equality. This happens at the time of the highest point of the earthly life of Christ, when he was going to give his life for all of us, and not just for the elect, ”said the Catholic parish priest Don Simone Di Vito, the abbot of the arrival of St. Albina.