ZAGREB ARCHBISHOP CONDUCTS EASTER MASS

( Editorial: --> 6310 ) ZAGREB, April 12 (Hina) - Zagreb Archbishop Msgr Josip Bozanic conducted the central ceremony of the liturgical year, Easter mass, in Zagreb on Sunday. At the beginning of the mass, which celebrates the greatest Christian holiday, the Archbishop called on all gathered believers to ask the resurrected Lord for forgiveness and peace. "Christian hope resurrects today, Christian hope transforms reality," Bozanic said. "With his resurrection, Christ is not telling us that in the end things will go the right way, but he assures us that things have already taken the right course. Easter is the revelation of a crucial event which changed all things, changed human views and lives profoundly and opened unexpected new horizons". Faced with the event of resurrection, death had to give up its old privilege - which is as old as man is - to have the last word in the matter of life, Bozanic said adding that today Easter has the last word in the matter of life. Speaking about the time we live in, the Archbishop said that today, on Easter, it would be wise to ask ourselves if we lived in a world, environment and time which supported life, or rather in a world, environment and time which were against life. We should also ask ourselves whether our culture is a culture of life of a culture of death, he added. "Behind us are difficult war years, displaced people and refugees among us bear witness to the fact that someone committed violence against them and that they cannot live in their homes, on their soil and in their native areas. We are at the end of the 20th century which was deeply marked by wars. With their death camps these wars largely overshadow past wars in the history of humans". A human life is not under attack only where there is war and weapons. It is attacked at the very beginning - since its conception, Bozanic said adding that abortions were attacks on life at its beginning, while euthanasia was an attack on life at its earthly end. Extending his best wishes for Easter to all the faithful, Bozanic called on them to feed on Easter hope which changes our way of understanding life and the course of human history. The Easter mass was attended by Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, papal nuncio Giulio Einaudi and the Croatian army ordinary Msgr Juraj Jezerinac. (hina) rm 121416 MET apr 98