Easter in Rome: The Secret Homilies of the Successor of Peter

They’re secret, except for those who were able to listen to them in person, while Benedict XVI was pronouncing them. In the "urbi et orbi" message, too, the pope presented much more than a list of countries at war. Here are the complete texts.
by Sandro Magister

ROMA, April 11, 2007 – The image above is taken from a painting by Caravaggio. The risen Jesus appears to the apostles, and to the doubting Thomas he says: “Put your finger here, and see my hands; put forth your hand and place it in my side, and be no longer unbelieving, but believe!"

The incredulity of Thomas and his following profession of faith – “My Lord and my God!” – are at the center of the message that Benedict XVI addressed to the world on Easter Sunday.

Pope Joseph Ratzinger said that “we may all be tempted by the disbelief of Thomas.” The countless evils that afflict men put faith to a hard test. But it is precisely in the wounds of the risen Christ that the true face of God appears: “the face of a God who, in Christ, has taken upon himself the wounds of injured humanity.” It is here that a nearly dead faith is reborn: because “only a God who loves us to the extent of taking upon himself our wounds and our pain, especially innocent suffering, is worthy of faith.”