The Resurrection of Christ is the ‘contagion of hope,’ Pope says in Easter message (Vatican Press Office)

Pope Francis celebrated Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica (video, booklet) and bestowed his Easter blessing Urbi et Orbi [To the City and the World]. “Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: ‘Jesus Christ is risen!’ – ‘He is truly risen!’” he said at the beginning of his Easter message. “Like a new flame this Good News springs up in the night: the night of a world already faced with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family. In this night, the Church’s voice rings out: ‘Christ, my hope, has arisen!’”