The Roman Catholic Christians from all over the world observe Easter on April 5. Contacted by IPN, his Excellence Anton Cosa, Roman Catholic Bishop of Chisinau, said the celebration of Christ’s return to live starts in the evening of April 4, when the Christians come to the Easter Vigil, at 8pm.
The liturgy of the Eastern night is the longest during the year and includes rituals that are typical of the Orthodox Christian Church too. A difference is that the Roman Catholics do not have the Holy Fire that is brought from Jerusalem. The Bishop lights the paschal candle, blesses it and shares Holy Light to the faithful.
His Excellence Anton Cosa said that a series of official services will be held at the Divine Providence Cathedral in Chisinau on April 5, in Polish, Russian and Romanian. After each service, the paschal food will be blessed. In Moldova, the Roman Catholic Christians bring to church Easter cakes, red painted eggs and other food products. Unlike the Catholics from the West, those from Eastern Europe borrowed this tradition, which is more a local one, from the Orthodox Christians. For the Easter meal, the Catholics in the West have the Easter cake called Colomba and chocolate eggs.
“On this feast, I always tell the faithful to be more kind towards those around us who need help,” said the bishop, specifying that the Roman Catholic community and other organizations will stage Easter meals for those in need.
The White Week for Catholics starts on April 5. Services will be held in the morning and evening of almost every day of next week.
In Moldova there are over 20,000 Roman Catholic Christians.
