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| Tuesday, 13 April 2004 |
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World's Christians celebrate Easter as pope urges fight on terrorism PARIS, Monday (SFP) Pope John Paul II on Sunday urged people across the globe to fight terrorism as Christians celebrated the culmination of Easter, a festival clouded this year by warnings of more terror strikes. The fears of further terror attacks in Europe and chilling images from Iraq have cast a long shadow over the holiest period in the Christian calendar, which marks the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. John Paul II used his Easter Sunday message to urge mankind to oppose the "inhuman" phenomenon of terrorism and prayed that humanity would find "the courage to oppose in solidarity the many evils that afflict it". The 83-year-old pontiff, who said the world was "troubled by many threatening shadows", appeared weary from the very beginning of the lengthy mass and spoke haltingly, often grimacing with the effort of his delivery. Sunday's celebration, broadcast to millions around the world, was a test for the pope, who is crippled by Parkinson's disease. Tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter's Square amid tight security to hear his message and traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing in 62 languages. In Iraq, the small Christian community celebrated Easter amid fears over the rising influence of Shiite Muslim fundamentalism, as the patriarch of the Chaldean church appealed for an end to bloodshed in the country. At the Church of the Holy Virgin in Baghdad, Emmanuel Delly called for an end to the tide of violence. More than 400 people have been killed and 1,000 wounded in the past week of clashes between insurgents and US troops. US President George W. Bush for his part attended religious services at the US Army's largest base, Fort Hood, Texas, where he acknowledged the fierce battles in Iraq. "It was a tough week last week. And my prayers and thoughts are with those who paid the ultimate price for our security," Bush told reporters, adding that it was "hard to tell" if the more intense clashes of the past week would end soon. In the Middle East, several hundred pilgrims attended a mass in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be built on the spot where Jesus Christ was crucified. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the main Orthodox Easter service at an overnight ceremony led by Patriarch Alexy II. Unusually, the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches this year mark Easter on the same day, and Alexy and Pope John Paul exchanged congratulatory messages. In Africa, Ugandan religious leaders called for dialogue between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to end almost two decades of fighting in the north of the country. And Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo used his Easter Sunday message to call for good will - and for extra vigilance, less than two weeks after an alleged coup plot was reported in the west African country. "Like Jesus Christ, we must think less of ourselves and more of others by shunning corruption, violence, hate, greed and intolerance," Obasanjo said. In Latin America, where Holy Week is a major holiday, hundreds of people were killed or wounded in car accidents or by falling bullets from guns fired in celebration. |
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