ローマ教皇、聖週間祝うミサをライブ配信　「勇気を持って」

【バチカン市国ＡＦＰ＝時事】ローマ教皇（83）は5日、イースター（復活祭）の1週間前にあたる「枝の主日」のミサをライブ配信で行い、新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）に勇気を持って立ち向かうよう呼び掛けた。（写真はバチカン市国のサンピエトロ大聖堂で、イースター〈復活祭〉の1週間前にあたる「枝の主日」のミサでヤシの枝を持つローマ教皇）
　枝の主日はイエス・キリストの受難前のエルサレム入城を記念するもので、１２日のイースターにはキリストの死からの復活を祝福する。
　数世紀にわたる伝統では、サンピエトロ広場に大勢の信者が集まり聖週間の正式な始まりを祝福する。しかし今年は、ローマ教皇も世界中のカトリック教徒約１３億人の大半も、自宅隔離下でこの聖なる日々を迎えている。
　ローマ教皇は５日のミサで、パンデミックは勇気と希望を持って立ち向かわなければならない悲劇だと信者たちに語り掛けた。
　「パンデミックの悲劇に見舞われた今日、多くの偽りの安全が崩壊し、多くの希望が裏切られる中で、見捨てられたという感覚が私たちの心に重くのしかかっている。そのような中でイエスは私たち一人一人にこう言う。『勇気を持ち、私の愛に心を開きなさい』」
　ローマ教皇はまた、「絶体絶命の事態に追い込まれ、行き詰まり、一切の光も逃げ道もなく、神自身も応じてくれないと思った時には、私たちは独りではないと思い出すべきだ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/07-12:35）

Pope Francis called for courage in the face of the coronavirus pandemic as he delivered Palm Sunday mass by livestream instead of before Saint Peter's Square crowds.
The Vatican is abandoning centuries of tradition and refraining from public celebrations of the official start of the Catholic world's Holy Week.
Pope Francis called the pandemic a tragedy on Sunday that must be faced with courage and hope.
Today, in the tragedy of a pandemic, in the face of the many false securities that have now crumbled, in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weighs upon our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us: 'Courage, open your heart to my love', the pope said.
Palm Sunday marks the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. Easter Sunday on April 12 celebrates his resurrection from the dead.
But many of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics are observing the sacred days under home confinement -- just like the 83-year-old pontiff.
Pope Francis has been communicating with the outside world by video so that crowds do not gather to see and hear him in one of the world's most famous squares.
Vatican City itself has been closed to tourists for nearly a month as part of global efforts to stop the spread of a disease that has officially killed more than 65,000 people worldwide.
The Argentine-born pontiff went on to call on the faithful to overcome their fears and remember that they are not alone.
When we have our back to the wall, when we find ourselves at a dead end, with no light and no way of escape, when it seems that God himself is not responding, we should remember that we are not alone, the pope said in his prayer.
Pope Francis himself went down with a cold in late February and was reportedly tested for COVID-19 twice as a precaution because seven people in the Vatican have caught the virus.
The Vatican says the pope is now in good health.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter a week later on April 19.