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The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople today released an Easter encyclical by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches.

“The joy of the Cross and the Resurrection has preserved the people of God from identifying themselves with the spirit of this world, while at the same time safeguarding them from barren insularity and a spirituality devoid of dynamism and hope-bearing breath,” he wrote. “The message of the Cross and the Resurrection resounds today as a Gospel of peace, reconciliation, and justice.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch added:

War, hatred, and injustice stand opposed to the fundamental Christian principles for whose realization and establishment the people of God pray and labor each day. In the light of the Resurrection, we beseech the Lord on behalf of the victims of wartime violence, the orphans, the mothers who mourn their children, and all those who bear in body and soul the effects of human cruelty and callousness.

“Christ is risen” is a denial and condemnation of violence and fear and an invitation to a life of peace. War brings forth lamentation and death; the Resurrection conquers death and bestows incorruptibility. Before the daily images of the cruelty of war, the Church raises her voice and proclaims the sacredness of the human person—of every concrete human being anywhere on earth—and the duty of absolute respect for that dignity.

The Blessed Sacrament was stolen, and members of the faithful robbed and beaten, during Eucharistic adoration on the morning of April 4 in San Lucas Cuauhtelulpan, Mexico.

“We deplore this incident, above all for the lives and physical and spiritual well-being of the people who suffered this outrage,” said Bishop Julio César Salcedo Aquino, M.J., of Tlaxcala. “These events wound us deeply, for among the offenses committed against the Catholic faith, the theft of the Eucharist constitutes one of the most grave.”

Eight Indian religious sisters and two religious-order candidates were detained at the train station in Indore after being accused of human trafficking. They were released after Church officials intervened.

“There are many elements who are often critical of the Church,” said Bishop Thomas Mathew of Indore. “We may be proved innocent later, but the loss of time, money, and peace of mind remains.”

The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a New York statute, The Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers and People Living with HIV.

The sisters, who care for terminally ill cancer patients, filed the lawsuit after state officials accused the sisters of “refusing to assign a room to a resident other than in accordance with the resident’s gender identity,” “prohibiting a resident from using a restroom available to other persons of the same gender identity,” and “willfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns.”