Why Do Catholics ...?

How can I explain the meaning of Easter to others?

“Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum) and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter,” according to The Catholic Encyclopedia.

As Pope Benedict said at the 2011 Easter vigil, “Thanks to the risen Lord, it is definitively established that reason is stronger than unreason; truth stronger than lies; love stronger than death.”

Or as St. John Chrysostom proclaimed in his Easter sermon: “Christ is risen, and you, o death, are annihilated! Christ is risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life is liberated! Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ, having risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen!”


Have you always wondered about some aspect of the faith? Or maybe you’d like to know some trivia about Pope Benedict. If you do, email us your question at [email protected] and look for the answer in an upcoming issue.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis