Orthodox Easter Resurrection: The Gift of Liberation and Call to Compassion

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew*

While many Christians celebrated Easter over a month ago as a result of differing calendar calculations, Orthodox Easter takes place much later this year, falling on May 5. Thus, at midnight on Saturday, May 4, the night that our fourth-century predecessor on the Throne of Constantinople, St. Gregory Nazianzus, described as "brighter than any sunlit day," some 300 million Orthodox Christians will swarm churches to hear the words: "Come, receive the light!"

Sacramento church will celebrate Easter at Muslim center

Bill Lindelof

A large Sacramento Christian congregation soon to be without a home will celebrate Easter at an Islamic center.

Spiritual Life Center of Sacramento, whose lease expires March 31 at a downtown church, will be conducting Easter services at the Sacramento Area League of Muslims (SALAM) property near American River College.

President Obama's Easter Message

Statement by the President on Easter Weekend:

For millions of Americans, this is a special and sacred time of year.

This week, Jewish families gathered around the Seder table, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the triumph of faith over oppression. And this weekend, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will join Christians around the world to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hopeful promise of Easter.

Official Vatican text of the Pope's Easter Sunday speech

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Following is the official English language translation provided by the Vatican of Pope Francis' Easter Sunday message, delivered in Italian from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! Happy Easter!

How Easter and Passover Can Make Your Family Happier

Bruce Feiler*

Over the next week, tens of millions of people will do something so familiar it's easy to forget how radical it is: They will commemorate the worst moments of their past. For Jews, the occasion is Passover, in which they relive their four centuries of slavery in Egypt. For Christians, the occasion is Easter, in which they painstakingly mark the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

An Interfaith Easter in Sacramento California

The Sacramento Bee reports that hundreds of worshippers in Sacramento, California, were able to celebrate this Easter Sunday together thanks to a local Muslim organization that let the Christians hold services in their mosque.