POPE Francis and Catholics around the world marked a solitary Easter Sunday, forced to celebrate the most joyful day in the Christian calendar amid the sorrowful reminders of the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally, St Peter's Square would be awash in fresh flowers on Easter Sunday, with tulips and orchids decorating the piazza's promenade to underscore Easter's message of life and rebirth following Christ's crucifixion.
This year, however, the cobble-stoned piazza was bare. Police barricades ringed the square, blocking the tens of thousands who would normally flock to hear the pope deliver his noontime Urbi et Orbi speech and blessing "to the city and the world".
Francis instead celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely empty basilica, with the faithful watching on TV at home.
He urged political leaders to provide hope and opportunity to the millions of newly jobless and urged the European Union in particular to step up to the "epochal challenge" posed by Covid-19, which has ravaged Italy, Spain and other EU countries.
Francis' lonely Mass was a scene that was repeated around the world, with churches either closed or, for the few still open, forcing the faithful to practise social distancing.
In is Easter message to the people of Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin said he had an early childhood memory of his mother leaving a basin of water out in the back yard on a bright Easter Sunday morning and inviting him to look in and watch the sun dance.
"The sun dances on Easter morning, she told us. It's the kind of message of joy and hope that we all need during these difficult days," he said.
"Easter reminds us that, as Pope Francis keeps saying, we must never let ourselves be ‘robbed of hope’.
"We know how important it is to continue to make sacrifices and to maintain the current restrictions in order to protect and save lives. Please God it won't be too long before we can go back to singing and dancing together, to meeting and greeting, travelling and discovering, and gathering in church to celebrate and praise God."
Archbishop Martin asked what the crisis was teaching people about themselves and others, faith and hope, the importance of caring and loving, of living simpler lives and managing expectations.
"In a strange way these days of seclusion have been helping us stop and think about what we value and perhaps even question some of the ways we have been living our lives," he said.
"We still have a long way to go in the fight against Covid-19 and its consequences. There will be many more sacrifices to make before this is all over. But as surely as Christ rose on Easter morning, we will come through this, hopefully as better people, strengthened by the experience."
