Pope Francis' Easter morning appearance in St. Peter's Basilica Sunday shows that even after the illness that almost claimed his life, he still has the "heart of a pastor," Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco said on Newsmax Sunday.
"A pastor always wants to be with his people, especially on the holiest day of the year," Cordileone told Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda." "It'd be very hard for someone with the priest, with the real pastoral soul, to be away from his people. So I think that kind of pastoral presence and love for the people does have an impact."
The Pope delegated the Easter Mass to Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, but after the Mass ended, he stayed on the balcony over the basilica's entrance for more than 20 minutes, imparting the apostolic blessing in Latin.
Cordileone also discussed a proposal from Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., to make the day after Easter Sunday a federal holiday.
"It already is a public holiday in some countries, and I think it's an idea to extend the celebration of some great feast day or some great commemoration," said the archbishop. "So I think that would make sense. Our country is a Christian-inspired country. It's founded on biblical principles. The Christian ethos, the Judeo-Christian ethos, has imbued our country historically, and it does so much good.
"It's the biblical principle way of living that does so, so much good. It's a far better way of living. So I think to preserve that by observing a holiday such as that, when people gather on these important occasions, would be a good thing."
Cordileone also discussed on Sunday the trend of young people returning to Christianity. "We see that our churches that are very, very faithful in living our traditions, that are living according to the truths that Christ gives us," he said. "They're attracting young people.
"They're filled with young families and children, young adults. They're, I think they're beginning to figure out that the way we've been going is not working. It's causing a lot of harm. There must be a better way."
The archbishop told Newsmax that the meaning of Easter is the "victory over death."
"We have many cherished symbols for Easter that convey its meaning. The Easter egg, the Easter bunny speak of new life. The Easter lily is shaped like a trumpet, right? The cry of victory. The victory! It's victory over death."
The primary symbol, though, is of the empty tomb after Jesus Christ's resurrection, said Cordileone.
"It's important to remember, though, that our Lord did not get to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday first," he added. "So we must go through Good Friday to get to Easter Sunday, which means that there's hard work that has to be done in turning our lives over to him."
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