Easter

The hope Christians have is not a sign of avoiding reality but of trusting in the power of God to defeat sin and death as the resurrection of Jesus clearly shows, Pope Francis wrote in his Easter message.

As the lights of St. Peter’s Basilica were extinguished and silence settled through the sprawling interior, a single flame — the paschal candle — pierced through the gloom, representing the light of the risen Christ which “quietly shines forth, even though we are in darkness,” Pope Francis said.

While he did not celebrate Mass or wash the feet of inmates, Pope Francis made his customary Holy Thursday visit to a detention facility, arriving at Rome’s Regina Coeli jail at about 3 p.m. April 17.