Easter
On an Easter shadowed by the Lorraine Motel, recommit to justice
By J. Lawrence Turner — April 1, 2021
(RNS) — Fifty-three years after MLK's assassination, we must transform a place of bloodshed into inspiration for a better world.
Why parts of Good Friday worship have been controversial
By Joanne M. Pierce — March 31, 2021
(The Conversation) — Prayers for Jews and veneration of the cross are often misunderstood as anti-Semitic or racist.
Despair and hope in Holy Week
By Thomas Reese — March 31, 2021
(RNS) — Our world, like Holy Week, is full of bad news. We need to remember to also look for goodness.
Passover’s promise of a safer place is America’s story this year
By Gabrielle Giffords — March 26, 2021
(RNS) — The former congresswoman and gun safety activist on Passover in a time of trauma.
Poll: 4 in 10 US Christians plan to attend in-person Easter services
By Yonat Shimron — March 22, 2021
(RNS) — Americans are growing more confident they can attend in-person religious services, but many still want restrictions such as social distancing and masking.
End-of-pandemic hopes rise, just in time for pagan holiday Ostara
By Antonio Pagliarulo — March 19, 2021
(RNS) — Buzz on social media is forecasting a more robust celebration this year for Ostara, the pagan holiday adapted as Easter by Christians.
Priest draws squirt gun in fight against coronavirus
By Natalie White — May 18, 2020
DETROIT (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest in the Detroit area used a squirt gun to shoot holy water at parishioners while maintaining social distancing.
Eastern Christians mark Easter in shuttered Jerusalem church
By Associated Press — April 20, 2020
JERUSALEM (AP) — Travel restrictions imposed by Israel to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have prevented the arrival of pilgrims to Jerusalem for the springtime holiday.
Peter, Malchus and our nameless saviors of the coronavirus crisis
By Tara Isabella Burton — April 14, 2020
(RNS) — Being displaced from the physical presence of church has turned our attention to the human beings we know and those whose names we'll never know.
At Easter blessing, Pope Francis addresses the world: ‘This is not a time for indifference’
By Claire Giangravé — April 12, 2020
(RNS) — On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and urged world leaders to work together for the common good.
Being a resurrection people in a time of death
By Valerie Cooper — April 12, 2020
(RNS) — Even if this Easter comes and goes with me standing alone in my home, in my heart, I will have been standing with my people: the faithful, across all time and generations, our arms and hearts and spirits linked in love.
An Easter sermon in a coronavirus pandemic
By Jim Wallis — April 12, 2020
(RNS) — The coronavirus has exposed and laid bare social injustice, which undermines both our common good and our common health. Easter tells us that all these things can be set right and made new.
Where to watch Easter services online
By Religion News Service — April 10, 2020
(RNS) — A selection of historic, prominent and popular churches' services from various traditions across the United States and the world.
Passover, Easter, Ramadan — and interfaith America in action
By Eboo Patel — April 10, 2020
(RNS) — In American hospitals, doctors and staffers from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i and other faith backgrounds all work together to care for patients suffering from COVID-19. Together, they are bringing an interfaith version of the Good Samaritan to life.
As a pandemic peaks at Christianity’s Easter climax, churches adapt online
By Alejandra Molina and Emily McFarlan Miller — April 9, 2020
(RNS) — Social distancing measures have caused radical dislocations for a holiday that is at once one of the most mystical and most hands-on in world religion.
