German Easter Bunny gets 70,000 letters from children

The Easter Bunny in Ostereistedt, northern Germany, once again received tens of thousands of requests from children hoping to have their wishes realized.

The meaning of Ostereistedt loosely translates to "Easter egg town" in English, and children have been sending their letters there for the past four decades.

Where did the letters come from?

According to Deutsche Post, some 70,000 letters were received at the post office in the village some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Bremen.

A person dressed as an Easter Bunny was seen delivering the last of the children's requests.

More than a thousand letters came from abroad, from a total of 40 different countries, including Australia and Brazil. Ukrainian children living in Germany because of the conflict back home also wrote to the Easter Bunny.

The total is actually down 10,000 on last year's figure — and well short of a peak of 100,000 in 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its height.

What did the letters say?

The tradition aims to encourage children to write letters. In response, Deutsche Post's Easter Post Office sends back colorful Easter-themed letters written by a team of volunteers.

Whether it was peace on earth, cinema tickets or more chocolate, the children were keen to let the bunny know what they wanted this year.

Some of the Ukrainian children who wrote said they were grateful to live in Germany and had already made friends. Some also mentioned that they wanted to learn German.

One letter writer, Lola from the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, asked what the Easter Bunny's favorite food was. Another, Fynn from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, wanted to go to the movies with him.

"With every letter, I see the children's eyes light up when they find the answer in the letterbox," said Doris Kröger, head of the Easter Post Office.

-Deutsche Welle

Pope, thousands brave rain for Easter in St. Peter’s Square

VATICAN CITY — In an Easter peace wish, Pope Francis on Sunday praised the framework nuclear agreement with Iran as an opportunity to make the world safer, while expressing deep worry about bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.

Cautious hope ran through Francis’ “Urbi et Orbi” Easter message, a kind of papal commentary on the state of the world’s affairs, which he delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Square.

He had just celebrated Mass in rain-whipped St. Peter’s Square for tens of thousands of people.

Francis made his first public comments about the recent framework for an accord, reached in Lausanne, Switzerland, and aimed at ensuring Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon.

“In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world.”

Decrying the plentitude of weapons in the world in general, Francis said: “And we ask for peace for this world subjected to arms dealers, who earn their living with the blood of men and women.”

He denounced “absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence” in Libya, convulsed by fighting fueled by tribal and militia rivalries. He hoped “a common desire for peace” would prevail in Yemen, wracked by civil warfare.

Francis prayed that the “roar of arms may cease” in Syria and Iraq, and that peace would come in Africa for Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Congo.

He recalled the young people, many of them targeted because they were Christians, killed last week in a Kenyan university, and lamented kidnappings, by Islamic extremists, that have plagued parts of Africa, including Nigeria.

On Good Friday, Francis chastised the international community for what he called the complicit silence about the killing of Christians. On Easter he prayed that God would alleviate “the suffering of so many of our brothers persecuted because of his name.”

During Mass, Francis was shielded from pelting rain by a canopy erected outside St. Peter’s Basilica, while prelates carried umbrellas in the yellow and white colors of the Vatican.

The downpour petered out to a drizzle, and by the ceremony, the rain had stopped. Francis, wearing a white overcoat, was driven through the square in the open-sided popemobile so he could wave to the faithful.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Thousands celebrate Easter in Holy Land

JERUSALEM — Thousands of pilgrims from around the world are celebrating Easter in the Holy Land, commemorating the day when according to Christian tradition Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem two millennia ago.

Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal led Mass at the Holy Sepulcher church in Jerusalem on Sunday. The site is where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, worshippers prayed and lit candles at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.


Easter was also celebrated in Gaza where less than three thousand Christians live among about 1.7 million Muslims.

Christian communities in the Holy Land, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East, have been declining in recent years due to regional turmoil.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net