In this year’s resurrection message, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece refers to the symbols that bring life and give meaning and orientation to existence.
The message stresses that the current form of the world promotes insecurity and fear. “Anxiety about the future often becomes a silent cry within human existence…
In the midst of this reality, man is again looking for points of orientation; he is searching for something stable, something real, something that gives meaning and hope. And that is exactly where symbols come back, not as mere shapes or historical relics, but as living testimonies of meaning and life.”
The Primate of the Greek Church emphatically notes that “For the Church, symbols are not ideological emblems, but bearers of life. The deeper meaning of the Cross is not its power, but its sacrificial love. That is why the Cross, the Holy Light, the Resurrection do not impose, but invite. They do not divide, but open the way to communion.”
The message in detail:
My brothers and dear children in the Lord,
Christ is risen!
We live in times when man is tested both by the fear generated by the insecurity of the world and by the uncertainty of the present age: wars, conflicts, riots and threats darken the horizon and weigh heavily on the hearts of many. Anxiety about the future often becomes a silent cry within human existence.
In the midst of this reality, man is again searching for points of orientation; he is looking for something stable, something real, something that gives meaning and hope. And that is precisely where symbols come back, not as mere shapes or historical relics, but as living testimonies of meaning and life.
The symbol is never closed in on itself; it always points beyond the visible. It unites the present with the depth of memory and supports man’s journey into the future. But when it is cut off from the truth it carries, when it is used as a weapon or as a means of imposition, it loses its power and becomes distorted.
For the Church, symbols are not ideological emblems, but life bearers. The deeper meaning of the Cross is not its power, but its sacrificial love. That is why the Cross, the Holy Light, the Resurrection do not impose, but invite. They do not divide, but open the way to communion.
To all those who fear, who worry, who see the world becoming unstable and dangerous, the Church has no illusions to offer, but a true hope that:
– evil does not have the last word,
– violence cannot abolish love,
– no conflict can extinguish the Light that rises from the Tomb and obscures the event of Christ’s Resurrection; and
– the true security of man is grounded in the certainty that God remains present in history.
Therefore, we must preserve our symbols as bridges of hope, meaning and reconciliation, becoming ourselves bearers of light and peace, that is, of the Resurrection, wherever we are.
I paternally wish you that the grace of the Risen Lord sustains your hearts, dispels fear and gives peace to the world and to each of our existence.
Honour the Lord!
