Catholic and Protestant bishops emphasized the message of hope of Easter in their sermons. They emphasized the power of faith in the face of war and terror in the world.
In the shadow of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Christians in Germany celebrated Easter. In the face of terror and war, the bishops emphasized the comforting and inspiring power of faith in their Easter sermons. The world is “marked by war, terror and brutal violence,” said Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki in his Easter sermon in Cologne Cathedral. This cannot solve any conflict, said the cardinal. He called for people to work for a better and more peaceful world.
The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, admitted in Limburg Cathedral that love and non-violence won in the end is difficult to believe given the worrying conditions day in and day out. “It takes a long learning curve to get there.” Bätzing described Easter as a symbol of new beginnings. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the beginning of a new world “in which the victims of wars, terror and unjust conditions experience justice,” he said in the Eucharist celebration in his diocese, according to the text of the sermon.
Counterstory to crisis-ridden Present
In many sermons the bishops addressed the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Easter in particular is the counter-story to the crisis-ridden present, emphasized the President of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Thorsten Latzel. “We are currently experiencing one crisis after another, terrible violence in Ukraine, in Israel/Palestine and in terrorist attacks,” said Latzel in his Easter message. “And we are experiencing how populists are trying to divide society.” The positive message of Jesus gives people the strength to stand up against it. “For me personally, this is the deepest reason for my hope: that I can stand up myself to oppose hate together with others.”
“Show your attitude clearly and clearly”
The acting council chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Bishop Kirsten Fehrs, called on Christians to be signs of hope. They must stand up and take a clear stand for a life of dignity, which every human being is entitled to without exception. Hatred and violence must be confronted. The resurrection shows that “it is not hopelessness that gains power over us, but rather confidence that prevails,” said the Hamburg bishop.
Overcoming boundaries at Easter
Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx called on Christians in the Munich Cathedral of Our Lady to oppose the resurgence of conflicts, hatred and violence that were believed to have been overcome. In view of a return of violence and war, of hatred, polarization and conspiracy theories, the feeling could easily arise that the “ghosts of the past” can never be shaken off, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising admitted.
“The course of world history is not always just progress for the better.” The Easter message is one of hope: Through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, “a dynamic has been introduced into history that can never be taken back,” said Marx in Munich’s Liebfrauendom.
Easter is the festival that overcomes borders, said Essen Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck in his Easter message. Much of what is currently happening socially, politically and also militarily gives the impression “as if it were driven by fears that have paralyzing power.” However, the Christian belief in the resurrection can give rise to a strength “that helps to overcome evil, end wars and preserve the dignity of freedom in everything, against the madness and terror of injustice, the war machine and tyranny.”