Pascha - Pâcques - Easter

Cultural Diversity - Europe's wealth

Crucified pregnant teenager

New York is known for its cultural diversity, but this week locals said enough is enough. An Easter exhibition of a nude chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ has been cancelled. The 1,8 meter high sculpture called "My Sweet Lord" does not include the common loincloth and was planned to be on display during the "Holy week" (see photo below).

Like USA, Europe also breasts itself of cultural diversity. Would we have protested like local Catholics did in New York? Or would we have accepted it as a post-modern condition that everything is up for grabs? A 5-meter sculpture of a crucified pregnant teenager was recently exhibited outside the cathedral in Copenhagen. According to the artist, Jens Galschiøt, it is a protest against the Catholic Church's policies on abortion and Aids. The crucified pregnant girl was not removed, and the sculpture is on its way to America - and Italy.

So, who is the most culturally diverse: Americans or Europeans? Should everything be tolerated in the holy name of tolerance?

Crucial Symbol
The crucifix is the Easter symbol per excellence, regardless of it being a chocolate cross with a naked Jesus or a metal cross with a pregnant teenager. No matter if you are in Paris or Athens, London or Warsaw, Christian churches celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion. The Christian world commemorates the crucifixion Good Friday and the resurrection of Christ Easter Sunday.

Pagan and Christian
The early Christians were quick to adapt pagan celebrations, so ancient spring celebrations were combined with Christian. Pussy willows and birch twigs are placed in vases. Tulips and daffodils are flown in from southern fields. Springtime is welcomed all over Europe - and integrated with Easter celebrations.

Palm Sunday
The silent week begins Palm Sunday. In Finland friends are greeted with willow twigs whisking them the best of luck. Here secular and religious traditions are intertwined. When Jesus rode to Jerusalem, people greeted Him by swinging palm branches. In northern and central Europe southern palms are replaced with pussy willow twigs, thereby symbolizing both Palm Sunday and the arrival of spring.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
In Spain a macabre dance of death is performed by men dressed as skeletons on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, whereas the church bells are an important part of the Easter observance In France and Italy. On Maundy Thursday, church bells that normally ring out over the countryside are silenced for three days in memory of the death of Jesus. On Easter morning the ringing bells "fly back from Rome" as they say, to celebrate the resurrection.

Good Friday traditionally has a pious atmosphere with flags at half-mast, dark attire, and some places law has restricted restaurant opening hours and public amusements.In Germany, Good Friday is observed by draping a cloth over the cross at home, in the tavern or in the town hall. Another traditional custom before Easter Sunday is to burn Christmas trees marking the end of winter. These bonfires are sometimes called Judas fires, because images of Judas Iscariot are burned in them.

Easter Sunday
Some start the day watching the sunrise from a hilltop Easter Sunday morning, as the sun dances with joy, because the Saviour has risen.

Others have started before sunrise by attending a nightly service and participating in processions of the cross. On Easter Sunday the Finns give each other a small token in return for the whisking, an egg, sweets or a coin. In the Vatican City there is the Easter Sunday Mass that is transmitted all over the world. Churches throughout Europe celebrate Easter with festive services often including the Eucharist, christenings and hymns of thanksgiving. In Greece the message is clearly stated, as the Easter congregation greet each other with "Christos anesti, Christos anesti." "Christ has risen, indeed He has risen."

Afterwards Easter dinner includes local varieties of lamb and eggs. Children devour chocolate eggs and Easter bunnies that have been hidden in the garden. The Greeks eat red hard-boiled eggs; the colour signifies the blood of Christ.

Easter Traditions
Once again secular and Christian traditions are merged. The eggs symbolize new life; just as a chick breaks out of its shell, so too, Jesus emerged from His tomb. Europeans ability to assimilate and revitalize both secular and religious traditions goes back almost 2,000 years. As new countries join the EU, they are reviving old Easter traditions that weren't permitted during the communist era. Europe celebrates Easter in many ways, yet the secular and Christian Easter messages remain the same.

Happy Easter!