At the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening, Pope Francis delivered an inspiring homily in which he likened the experience of the women in Jerusalem to that of people around the world today as they endure the Covid-19 epidemic.

In an empty St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis presided over the historic 'Via Crucis" with help from groups of health care workers and prisoners.

The preacher of the papal household said on April 10, Good Friday, that "Christ's cross changed the meaning of pain and human suffering, in that both are no longer viewed as divine punishment or a curse."

“Today, I wish to be close to priests, to all priests, from the most recently ordained to the pope,” Pope Francis said. “Today, dear brother priests, you are all with me at the altar.”

Pope Francis said he knows it is not easy to be creative as the lockdown drags on, "but don't run away, don't take refuge in escapism, which in this time is of no use to you."

This is the second commission established by Pope Francis to study the question of a women’s diaconate.