Millions of Christians around the world celebrate Easter

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI voiced growing concern over Iran’s nuclear drive, the Darfur tragedy and other conflicts in his first Easter message on Sunday, as Christians worldwide celebrated their faith’s most joyous day.

But comments from several Christian leaders on the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection showed concern over the apparent discovery of a ‘Gospel of Judas’ that would alter the traditional story of the Passion of Christ, as well as questions of faith raised by the best selling book and upcoming movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’. In his first ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world) address, broadcast to more than 65 countries, Pope Benedict called for “serious and honest” talks to achieve “an honourable solution” in Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the West.Bells meanwhile rang out on Easter morning in churches across Europe, from the 12th-century St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna to Britain’s Canterbury Cathedral, where Anglican Church head Rowan Williams denounced the plot of the ‘Da Vinci Code’, which explores the idea that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.”It’s almost that we’d prefer to believe something like this instead of the prosaic reality,” Williams said, commenting on the popularity of the book.Williams also evoked the apparent discovery in ancient scrolls of a ‘Gospel of Judas’ when he criticised media reporting as for “raking over the coals of controversies about the historical basis of faith”.Similar sentiments were expressed by Peru’s Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, who said both the Judas scrolls and the ‘Da Vinci Code’ were profane.”We are forewarned because this demon is on the loose and continues eating souls,” he said of the threat to Catholic beliefs.Easter celebrations began earlier on Sunday across Asia, from the continent’s largest Catholic nation, the Philippines, to communist Vietnam and China, where some worshippers prayed in hiding for fear of official persecution.In Muslim Afghanistan, gripped last month by a furore over Abdul Rahman who faced the death penalty after converting to Christianity, pockets of underground Christians gathered in secret.In Jerusalem, it was the busiest Easter weekend since the start of the Palestinian uprising five years ago.An Israeli tourist ministry spokesman said some 90 000 visitors came to the Holy Land, up 20 per cent from last year.Thousands of Christians attended the Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – believed to be Jesus’s burial site – where the Vatican’s representative, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, prayed for peace among people of all faiths.In Iraq, dozens of members of Iraq’s diminishing Christian population braved violence to walk to churches to celebrate, including at central Baghdad’s Saint George’s Church, where Father Raad Saleem prayed for “peace and normalcy”.Easter messages in Africa came with a political tone.The archbishop of Dakar condemned the intrusion by police seeking to question a Senegalese opposition leader who was attending a Good Friday service.In Burundi, bishops issued a warning that democracy was at risk “due to the will of some to grab all the power”, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the archbishop of Kinshasa urged the faithful to make good choices in the upcoming October elections.In India, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in southern Kerala state, many carrying the cross on their backs, prayed at the Saint Thomas Church in Malayattoor.In heavily Catholic Latin America, the weekend was marked with masses and re-enactments of the Passion of Christ.In Mexico City, some 300 000 believers followed as 5 000 actors put on a Passion play that began Thursday with Christ’s crucifixion and ended on Sunday with his rise to heaven.- Nampa-AFPIn his first ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world) address, broadcast to more than 65 countries, Pope Benedict called for “serious and honest” talks to achieve “an honourable solution” in Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the West.Bells meanwhile rang out on Easter morning in churches across Europe, from the 12th-century St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna to Britain’s Canterbury Cathedral, where Anglican Church head Rowan Williams denounced the plot of the ‘Da Vinci Code’, which explores the idea that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.”It’s almost that we’d prefer to believe something like this instead of the prosaic reality,” Williams said, commenting on the popularity of the book.Williams also evoked the apparent discovery in ancient scrolls of a ‘Gospel of Judas’ when he criticised media reporting as for “raking over the coals of controversies about the historical basis of faith”.Similar sentiments were expressed by Peru’s Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, who said both the Judas scrolls and the ‘Da Vinci Code’ were profane.”We are forewarned because this demon is on the loose and continues eating souls,” he said of the threat to Catholic beliefs.Easter celebrations began earlier on Sunday across Asia, from the continent’s largest Catholic nation, the Philippines, to communist Vietnam and China, where some worshippers prayed in hiding for fear of official persecution.In Muslim Afghanistan, gripped last month by a furore over Abdul Rahman who faced the death penalty after converting to Christianity, pockets of underground Christians gathered in secret.In Jerusalem, it was the busiest Easter weekend since the start of the Palestinian uprising five years ago.An Israeli tourist ministry spokesman said some 90 000 visitors came to the Holy Land, up 20 per cent from last year.Thousands of Christians attended the Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – believed to be Jesus’s burial site – where the Vatican’s representative, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, prayed for peace among people of all faiths.In Iraq, dozens of members of Iraq’s diminishing Christian population braved violence to walk to churches to celebrate, including at central Baghdad’s Saint George’s Church, where Father Raad Saleem prayed for “peace and normalcy”.Easter messages in Africa came with a political tone.The archbishop of Dakar condemned the intrusion by police seeking to question a Senegalese opposition leader who was attending a Good Friday service.In Burundi, bishops issued a warning that democracy was at risk “due to the will of some to grab all the power”, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the archbishop of Kinshasa urged the faithful to make good choices in the upcoming October elections.In India, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in southern Kerala state, many carrying the cross on their backs, prayed at the Saint Thomas Church in Malayattoor.In heavily Catholic Latin America, the weekend was marked with masses and re-enactments of the Passion of Christ.In Mexico City, some 300 000 believers followed as 5 000 actors put on a Passion play that began Thursday with Christ’s crucifixion and ended on Sunday with his rise to heaven.- Nampa-AFP