VATICAN CITY (AP) — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.”
Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion.
The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations,” Francis said Easter’s joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”
The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi,” which means “to the city and the world.”
Since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people.
Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn’t come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Moscow.
But Francis also noted progress on some fronts. “Let us rejoice that concrete signs of hope are coming from so many countries, including those who are helping and welcoming all those fleeing war and poverty,” he said. No specific country was mentioned.
How to care for asylum seekers, immigrants and refugees, and whether to allow them to enter the country, is the subject of intense political and social debate in many parts of Europe, but also in the United States and elsewhere.
Francis also prayed that the country’s leaders would “ensure that neither men nor women are discriminated against” and that “human rights and democracy are fully respected”.
As migrants risk their lives on smugglers’ wrecked ships to reach Europe, the Pope lamented the social and economic hardships Tunisians, especially young people, are suffering.
Dozens have died or gone missing in the past two weeks after attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Tunisia.
The Pope counted Lebanon and two of his African countries he visited this year, South Sudan and Congo, among those in need of ending division and building reconciliation. On Haiti, he called on “the political community and the international community to seek definitive solutions to the many problems plaguing these afflicted peoples.”
The bloody conflict that Francis cites contrasts with the riot of bright colors afforded by the orange-red tulips, yellow sprigs of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colorful seasonal flowers that adorned St. Peter’s Square. bottom. The flowers were trucked from Holland.
According to the Vatican, by the time the pope’s speech ended, about 100,000 people had gathered in the square in time for the pope’s speech.
The canopy at the end of the steps of the Piazza once again attracts public attention for his 12 hours for Mass, after his 2.25-hour Easter vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica the previous night. protected the Pope.
Francis was hospitalized from March 29th to April 1st for bronchitis. Still recovering, he missed the traditional Good Friday procession at the Colosseum in Rome.
On Easter Sunday, Francis appeared to be out of breath as he finished his two-hour show. His voice became hoarse and at some point he stopped coughing.
Nonetheless, after Mass, he made several laps of the Popemobile across the square, waving and smiling at the cheering supporters.
