Episcopal encyclical for Holy Easter by the Metropolitan of Sweden
Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden published an Episcopal Encyclical for Holy Easter 2022, in which he states that: “the war in Ukraine has undoubtedly served as a source of pain and sorrow” and urges believers to “listen to the Lord’s command to” take courage, var in good spirits “and let us enjoy the Passover and experience our personal resurrection and victory against all evil, pain and sorrow – and perhaps against ourselves!”.
venerable fathers,
Honorable community and community leaders,
Dear beloved stewards, friends and benefactors
of Sweden’s holy metropolis,
Wow! – CHRIST IS RISEN!
Beginning with tonight’s resurrection vigil and henceforth, the Easter weekend proclaiming victory over death and Hades, the triumphant cry “Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη – Christ is risen” will be joyfully heard from our lips all over the world and all over the world!
The great Greek author Alexandros Papadiamantis describes today’s celebration of feasts and the celebration of the celebration and notes characteristically that “the Church throws off her mourning clothes and wears her bright white robes, reflecting the purity and radiance of the angel who rolled away the stone seal. The entrance to the tomb.” .
The Church celebrates and the believers are filled with happiness and delight at the announcement that “the Lord is risen”! And this joy is multiplied by the testimony of the Apostle Paul to the nations: “For he knows that after being raised from the dead, Christ is no longer dying. Death no longer has dominion over him ”(Rom. 6: 9). After the resurrection of the Lord, we experience the human dimensions of this event; that is, its saving reference to humanity.
In recent weeks, the war in Ukraine has undoubtedly served as a source of pain and sorrow; an encounter with death that should not have occurred! We have seen people die, children are left to grow up as orphans, victims of ethnic hatred, physical and spiritual anxiety, brutality and irrationality, a climate of toxicity and perverse behavior. These are all conditions to which man is led when he turns his back on God and worships himself.
In a sermon given just a few days ago, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew very wisely remarked that “a war never solves any problems, it only creates new ones”. The victims of war-torn Ukraine have their own cross to carry and personify St. Nectarios from Pentapolis’ characteristic saying: “The cross is a part of my life”!
Having crucified us with Christ and joined in the suffering of our warlike fellows and women who have been driven from their homes and forced to flee as refugees, let us renew our hope through the empirical knowledge that the risen Lord will be the one to come that all these tragic events, that he should give the strength to overcome sorrows, the expectation of joy and the undeniable promise of eternal life.
Surrounded as we are by the unchanging light of the resurrection that “illuminates everything” and illuminates the universe from one end to the other, we are called to renew ourselves in the timeless values of life, peace, justice and respect for the human person, and to share the pain. with those who suffer, share the grief with those who mourn and share our common spiritual home, the Church, with the refugees.
We are called to overcome all contradictions or differences between us and enjoy the unique gift of life, the journey to Emmaus with the risen Savior and the sincere desire to be in fellowship with one another, love for our brothers all over the world. earth, lacks elitism and stereotypes, especially given that “the others” are in reality our “alter ego”.
Let us listen to the Lord’s command to “take courage, be of good cheer” and let us enjoy the Passover, experience our personal resurrection and victory against all evil, pain and sorrow – and perhaps against ourselves!
With all my fatherly love and many Easter wishes in the risen Lord,
† Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All of Scandinavia