Vatican City, Apr 19, 2019 / 09:00 am
At the Vatican's Good Friday service, the papal preacher connected Christ's Passion with all in history who have suffered the degradation of their human dignity, highlighting in particular the experience of African-American slaves.
"The final word is not and never will be injustice and oppression. Jesus not only restored dignity to the disinherited of the world, he also gave them hope," papal preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa said in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica April 19.
"We can say to the poor, the outcasts, those who are trapped in different forms of slavery still occurring in our society: Easter is your feast," he said.
Reflecting on the rejection and hatred experienced by the "suffering servant" described by the Jewish prophet Isaiah, Cantalamessa said "the Crucified One" is a "prototype and representative of all the rejected, the disinherited, and the 'discarded' of the earth."