Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra, reads a message from the Pope on the occasion of the fourth edition of the “Festival of the Resurrection” in Plaza Cibeles, Madrid. The Pontiff’s greeting and blessing upon the event: “How I wish that the very lives of Christians might become a concert”
By Daniele Piccini
Just as, immediately after the Resurrection of the Lord more than two thousand years ago, “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,” came out of their tombs and “entered” Jerusalem, so too today Easter does not “remain sealed in the tomb,” but “breaks into the city and enters everyday life through the lives of men and women.”
This is a passage from a message of Pope Leo XIV, read this evening, 11 April, by Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra, on the occasion of the fourth edition of the “Festival of the Resurrection,” held in Plaza Cibeles, one of the most iconic squares in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The event, attended by over 60,000 people, featured performances by artists such as the band Hakuna, the Andalusian group Gypsy Kings, and the Jamaican singer Liz Mitchell.
Christ becomes present in the saints of today
In his message for the Easter celebration, the Pontiff blesses this musical form of expressing joy at Christ’s Resurrection.
It is therefore fitting that you have gathered to celebrate, and that you have done so now for the fourth consecutive year. It is good and necessary that Easter should also find expression in music, in encounter, and in shared joy. Faith in Jesus Christ gives meaning to human joy: it purifies it, elevates it, and brings it to fulfilment.
Easter comes forth from the tomb and transforms cities and history also through the lives of the saints, “martyrs and witnesses of Jesus.” They are a model from whom Christians today can also draw inspiration: by imitating them, Christ once again “walks along your streets,” becoming present “here and now.”
The world needs to hear about Christ and to see Him in the actions of Christians who live out the newness of baptism. What is needed are young people who are not ashamed of the Gospel, communities that radiate hope, witnesses capable of making the Lord present in every sphere, lives set ablaze that make the beauty of faith visible.
The joy of Easter bursts forth in music and song
The musical celebration in Plaza Cibeles thus becomes, in the Bishop of Rome’s message of greeting and blessing, a striking expression of Easter joy—an uncontainable happiness that finds outward expression in song and music, and in the coming together of so many people in harmony. It is a form of expression that Leo XIV feels he can share personally and deeply.
How I wish there were celebration throughout the whole world! How I wish that everywhere Easter joy might find voices, faces, and songs! But even more: how I wish that the very lives of Christians might become a concert, a great harmony of faith, unity, communion, and charity, capable of proclaiming to the world that Christ lives! May the flame of the Easter candle go forth from your churches. May it burn away all inner lukewarmness, all resignation, all spiritual mediocrity.
“We will see each other in June”
Leo XIV invites everyone to bring this music of joy into their own lives, making “your lives a new song, one that renews the Church and brings the light of the Risen One to the world.” Finally, he assures the faithful in Spain of his prayers and blessing, and looks ahead to their next meeting, which will take place during his apostolic journey to the Iberian Peninsula: “God willing, we will see each other in June.”