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Pope Francis urged his coronavirus-weary flock not to lose hope even during the ongoing “dark months” of the pandemic as he held a reduced Easter vigil service at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.
Due to social distancing rules, only about 200 masked people were able to attend the service, which marks the period between Christ’s crucifixion and his joyous resurrection on Easter Sunday.
For the second year in a row, the Vatican eliminated the traditional sacrament of baptism for a handful of adults to limit the possibility of contagion. Usually a long, nocturnal ritual, this year’s vigil service also started earlier than usual to respect the Covid-19 curfew of 10 p.m. in Italy.
But the service began in the dramatic way it always does, with the Pope lighting a single candle in the darkened basilica and then sharing its flame with others until the pews begin to slowly glow and the basilica lights come on.
In his homily, Francis said that Easter offers a message of hope and new beginnings.
“In these dark months of the pandemic, let us listen to the risen Lord as he invites us to start anew and never lose hope,” he said. “It is always possible to start over, because there is a new life that God can awaken in us despite all our failures.”
Francis, who again avoided a mask, limped considerably during the service, in a sign that he is suffering from a prolonged attack of sciatic nerve pain.
On Sunday, Francis will preside at Easter Mass before an equally small group of faithful and deliver his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing “to the city and to the world.” Usually Easter mass and blessing are celebrated before tens of thousands of people in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square.
But this year Francisco will celebrate the service in the basilica and deliver the blessing from the altar, to avoid crowds forming in the square.
