Pope's Easter Vigil message: God drives out hatred and transcends death

The Mass began in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica with the blessing of the fire and of the Easter candle. With most of the lights in the basilica turned off, Leo and the concelebrating cardinals, bishops and priests processed in darkness toward the altar, stopping first to light the pope's candle and then those of the concelebrants and faithful.

During the liturgy, Leo baptized 10 adults. Five were from the Diocese of Rome, two from Great Britain, two from Portugal and one catechumen was from South Korea, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.

The pope also confirmed the 10 and gave them their first Communion during the Mass.

During the Liturgy of the Word and the readings detailing moments in the history of salvation, Leo said in his homily, "We have seen how God responds to the hardness of sin — which divides and kills — with the power of love, which unites and restores life."

The Gospel reading described how the women who had witnessed Jesus' death and burial overcame their grief and fear, and went to his tomb, expecting to find it sealed with a large stone and soldiers standing guard, he said.

"This is what sin is: a heavy barrier that closes us off and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us," the pope said.

However, because of the women's "faith and love," he said, they became the first witnesses of the resurrection and "they saw the power of God’s love, stronger than any force of evil, capable of 'driving out hatred' and 'bringing down the mighty.' "

Throughout history, even when humanity failed to live according to God's plan, he said, "the Lord did not abandon us, but revealed his merciful face to us in an even more surprising way — through forgiveness."

"Sisters and brothers, even today, there are tombs to be opened, and often the stones sealing them are so heavy and so closely guarded that they seem to be immovable," tLeo said.

Some "stones" weigh heavily on the human heart, he said, "such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others, stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations."

"Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!" he said. With God's help, many men and women have rolled away those "stones," sometimes at the cost of their lives, "but with good fruits that we still benefit from today."

"They are not unattainable figures, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in charity and truth, had the courage to speak" the words of God and to act "with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified," he said.

"Let us be inspired by their example," the pope said, "and on this holy night let us make their commitment our own, so that the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere and always throughout the world."