In his first Easter Mass address as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, called on “those who have the power to unleash wars” to choose peace.
“Let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil.”
“Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace. Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them,” the pontiff said.
Pope Leo also spoke of his worry that people “are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent, indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people”. But the Easter proclamation that “Christ is risen from the dead … opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away: death has been conquered forever; death no longer has power over us!”
Easter showed that Jesus had been “entirely nonviolent” in the face of suffering.
Thousands of worshippers packed St Peter’s Square yesterday to hear the American-born Leo’s first Easter Mass address as pontiff.
After delivering his message, Leo wished people a happy Easter in 10 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Latin. He then said the Regina Coeli prayer and gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, meaning “To the City and to the World”.
The pope did not name any leaders, or conflicts, in his address, but in recent weeks has repeatedly denounced ongoing global conflicts. He also announced that he would return to the basilica on 11 April to lead a prayer vigil for peace.
Sources: BBC, CNN, Vatican News, Reuters
[Image: By Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar – https://x.com/edgarjbb_/status/1920590815472108021, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=164970023]