By 6 o'clock on Easter morning, the hose-washed streets of Rome were crowded with pilgrims from almost every country in the world, making their way through the pink dawn to St. Peter's. Soon the great church was packed, and latecomers waited patiently in the square outside for the pontifical High Mass to begin. For many of them this was the climax of a long journey.
Inside the basilica, Pope Pius XII read the Easter homily for the Holy Year: "When men follow Jesus, they know perfect peace even in the midst of affliction, persecution and injustice."
It had been Rome's most crowded week...
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