Plagued by pain – for the first time the Pope did not lead the Easter ceremony himself

“In this darkness that you are experiencing, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of Parliament, the darkness of war and cruelty, we all pray with you tonight, we pray for so much suffering. We alone can give you our accompaniment, our prayer and our encouragement, and we accompany you. We can also tell you what is the greatest thing we are celebrating today: ‘Christ is risen’, the Pope said, speaking these last words in Ukrainian.