Seychelles celebrates Easter with messages of hope for the desolate

In wishing believers a Happy Easter, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, brought a message of hope. 

Christians in Seychelles join others around the world to celebrate Easter on Sunday but not everyone is able to attend mass amid the COVID-19 restrictions still in place on large gatherings.

In wishing believers a Happy Easter, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Alain Harel, and Archbishop James Wong of the Anglican Church, brought a message of hope for those who are desolated and hopeless.

Harel saw the outpouring of hatred while watching the atrocities of the war in Ukraine and asked "why so much violence in the heart of the human person and within our societies? That same hatred that crucified Jesus: 'Crucify him, crucify him!"

He said that there is "a sign of hope which comes to us from Golgotha, place of the skull, and which does not make the headlines: a certain Jesus of Nazareth broke the chain of hatred by living to the end this which he spoke as his last word on the cross: "Father forgive them....".

Harel said that the beloved disciple "tells us that from the side of the condemned to death flows blood (a life all given to each and every human being) and water (sign of life in abundance). This life-giving water, if we allow ourselves to be irrigated by it, is capable of reflowering our hearts and our society."

On his side, Archbishop Wong said the pandemic has widened the gap between rich and poor, between the powerful and the vulnerable.

"The cruel war in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world are taking thousands of innocent lives, allowing all sorts of crimes, annihilating everything on their way, and multiplying the wave of displaced and refugees," he added.

The Archbishop said that in the midst of tribulations and intense hopelessness, the Church continues to announce the joyful and hopeful message that death has been conquered and that Christ is Risen.

"Christ's resurrection is the source of a new life recreating and renewing all things in Christ. It is a source of healing, wholeness, and renewal. It is joy for the sorrowful; light for those living in darkness; liberation for those oppressed. It leads the world to unity and reconciliation," he said.

"My dear fellow pilgrims on our earthly journey, as we celebrate Easter this year, in the midst of COVID-19 and tragic wars and a divided world, let us remind one another that the Risen Lord continues to stand today among us, telling us as he did to the Apostles after his Resurrection "Peace be to you", said Wong.