Easter: Covid-19, a test to humanity, says Pope Francis

By Ihesiulo Grace

13 April 2020

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.As Christians mark low key Easter in Nigeria

.Coronavirus, a blessing in disguise – Catholic bishops

As Christians all over the world celebrated Easter, the resurrection of Christ on Sunday, Pope Francis has said that the Coronavirus pandemic is a test to humanity.

Addressing an empty church in his message to mark the Easter celebrations on Sunday, Pope Francis said, “a world already faced with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family”.

He said his thoughts were with those directly affected by the virus: doctors and nurses, the sick, those who had died and their family members in mourning.

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This is just as churches the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, were deserted on Sunday as Christian faithful celebrated the Easter in their homes in compliance with the Federal Government’s directives to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, while addressing an empty church, in his sermon, said that coronavirus is a blessing in disguise.

According to the archbishop, the pandemic has brought nations together speaking one voice for the common good of the world.

He called on Nigerians not to give up even in this difficult times that the world is facing the threat to life caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

“Be still and know that there is God. There is hope with Christ even in the darkness, your future is brighter.

“Even though the world is going through serious crisis ranging from economic and religious crisis to marriage problems, yet with Christ, Christians will conquer visible and spiritual powers and forces wagging war against the world”, he assured.

He urged Christians to shun violence, self-centeredness and pride, even as he urged them to embrace humility and love for one another.

On his part, Archbishop Matthew Kukah, said that the COVID-19 pandemic contains opportunity for everyone.

He said: “This pandemic is a crisis that contains an opportunity.

“The worst that can happen to us is if we return to our old ways and divisions after the pandemic is over.

“It would mean that we have failed to learn the historic lessons of the time”.

Explaining that this Easter is like no other that the world has seen, the Sokoto Chief Shepherd admonished Christians not to despair nor be casting aspersions and seeking scapegoats.

“The world must look back and ask how we got to this point. We Christians must ask how we allowed the tares and thistles to overwhelm the good seeds of our common humanity.

“We must remember that none of us is healthy if one of us is sick. None of us has a full stomach if anyone of us goes to bed hungry.

“None of us should be proud of their wealth as long as one is poor. Nothing calls on our common humanity like now”.

He said Christianity is a religion of contradictions and irony, defying logic and human reason.

Bishop Kukah, who made the statement in his Easter message titled, “The empty tomb and empty Churches: A metaphor for our times”, asked retheorically how a Virgin can conceive without knowing a man? (Lk. 1:34). How a man with nowhere to lay his Head proclaim a kingdom? (Jn. 18:36). How a man who claimed he would rise again (Jn. 2:29) not even defend himself, nor avoid the humiliation of being nailed to the cross with robbers and on the third day of all the drama changed.

Revealing that an empty tomb is another name for Easter, the Bishop said though the tomb was the most grievous wound ever inflicted on the world, yet rather than seeking a healing for this wound, Christianity believes this wound has brought healing (Is. 53: 3).

“Every tragedy, from wars, famines, to plagues and pandemics start small and we often find reasons to ignore solidarity. Cultural, religious, ethnic, class and gender differences often serve as a balm to lull us into indifference until it is too late”.

Kukah added that the empty tomb is a metaphor for our empty churches today, even as he explained that “the Church started from our hearts and homes before it became a physical structure”.