EASTER EVENTS Pope says Christ's resurrection was 'crucial leap' in history

A candlelight service began the long Easter vigil in the Vatican.
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Easter services late Saturday with a dramatic, candlelighted vigil in St. Peter's Basilica, saying Christ's resurrection was "the most crucial leap" in the history of mankind.
The bells of St. Peter's tolled across Rome as midnight approached to herald in Easter, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion on Good Friday.
This year, Easter Sunday also coincides with Benedict's 79th birthday.
At the start of Saturday night's lengthy vigil, Benedict entered the darkened basilica in silence, holding in front of him a single white candle. Its flame was then shared with others until slowly the whole basilica began to twinkle with candles held by the thousands of faithful gathered for the chant-filled service.
During his homily, a tired-looking Benedict said some people wrongly believe that the miracle of Jesus' resurrection did not concern ordinary men.
"If we may borrow the language of the theory of evolution, it is the greatest 'mutation,' absolutely the most crucial leap into a totally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its development: a leap into a completely new order which does concern us and concerns the whole of history," he said in response.
7 people baptized
During the service, Benedict baptized seven people -- a rite he said was more than a simple washing or purification of the soul.
"It is truly death and resurrection, rebirth, transformation to a new life," he said.
Benedict had just a few hours to rest before he celebrates Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square today.
After the Mass, he will move to the central balcony of the basilica to deliver the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech -- Latin for "to the city and to the world" -- and give a blessing and greetings.
Benedict led a Good Friday Way of the Cross evening procession at Rome's Colosseum in which he denounced "threats" to the institution of the family and lamented the divide between the world's rich and poor.
The busy Holy Week ceremonies were Benedict's first since being elected pope a few weeks after Easter in 2005. After they end, he planned to take a few days rest at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills south of Rome.
Last year, the ailing John Paul was forced to sit out Easter ceremonies for the first time in his papacy, which began in 1978. John Paul tried to speak but failed from his window overlooking the square on Easter 2005. In one of his last public gestures, he blessed the faithful with his hand but was unable to utter a word.
What Bushes plan
Here in the United States, President Bush and several relatives are capping what he called "a little family affair" this weekend at Camp David with an early Easter dinner today.
Bush and his wife, Laura, departed the White House on Thursday afternoon to spend four days at the wooded presidential retreat of rustic cabins in the Maryland mountains. Along with the first lady's mother, Jenna Welch, the weekend gathering includes the president's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara; his sister Doro Koch and her husband, Bobby; and his brother, Marvin, and his wife, Margaret.
The clan planned to sit down to an early midday meal today of two kinds of ham, spinach salad, macaroni and cheese, asparagus, deviled eggs, fresh fruit and biscuits.
For dessert, they were choosing between double coconut layer cake and lemon curd trifle with fresh berries.
Bush returns to the White House around lunchtime today.
The annual Easter Egg Roll is to be on the grounds Monday. Mrs. Bush is to make an appearance, but the president is not. He scheduled an event on taxes in Sterling, Va.