Pope: What was in his Easter egg?

On Easter Sunday within the walls of a juvenile detention centre in Rome by the name of ‘Casal di Marmo’ which houses roughly 50 young people, a 6 and a half feet chocolate egg stood tall.

Hand decorated, it sported the coat of arms of Benedict XVI.

Simply because the Easter egg had been a gift to him on the part of the representatives of a Chocolate Factory from Cremona in the North of Italy.

It had been personally presented to him on Wednesday 4th of April in Saint Peter's Square , following the weekly General Audience. And a day later, it was Holy Thursday, it was already no longer within Vatican walls but delivered behind bars to the detention centre and placed within its Chapel walls.

A Chapel this where the Pope had once prayed on a visit there back in March 2007, during which he had celebrated mass with the detainees in the gym. Speaking to them during the homily of the Parable of the “Prodigal Son”. Explaining how “freedom when it is interpreted as doing as much as I want or living for myself” is not right and that life brings more satisfaction when lived for others.

On that occasion Benedict XVI put a personal touch to the event individually giving each young detainee, a blessing and a rosary.

But getting back to the Easter egg in the detention centre. That may not have been personally delivered but it brought home to the young detainees, some of whom had met with him on the previous occasion, a bit of cheer. Not just because of the slap up chocolate, but because they now knew the Pope had not forgotten them.

However the question on everyone’s lips here in Italy, where it is tradition to place a surprise gift in chocolate eggs is: what was in the egg then?

I rang the detention centre to find out. Well it seems there was no filler but that the thought that the Pope had kept them in his heart in a special way on Easter Sunday through this great egg, a symbol of new life, had certainly filled the young detainees’ hearts with immense joy.
So I was told.

I'm Veronica Scarisbrick

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