The first Easter season began in fear, behind locked doors, as the Sunday gospel relates: “On the evening of that first day of the week when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ” Religious minorities fearing persecution have been hiding behind locked doors from the beginning of recorded history, and today is no different, with the persecution of Christians on the rise around the world.

“(T)hese attacks can foment fear and division. They can tempt us to cast out the stranger, strike out against those who don’t look like us, or pray exactly as we do. That’s the intent of the terrorist, is to weaken our faith and weaken our best impulses, our better angels.” But “(I)f Easter means anything, it’s that we don’t have to be afraid. We drown out darkness with light, and we heal hatred with love, and we hold on to hope.”

The Holy See has reported that more than 100,000 Christians are violently killed annually because of some relation to their faith.