Pope Francis, who has made peace a cornerstone of his papacy, used his Easter Sunday message to once again urge an end to violence and suffering around the world. Speaking from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica, the Pope – still recovering from bilateral pneumonia – offered his Urbi et Orbi blessing with the help of Archbishop Diego Ravelli, who read the Pope’s message aloud to the thousands gathered in tulip-filled St Peter’s Square.
“Christ is risen,” the Pope proclaimed, describing the resurrection not as a distant idea but as a powerful, living truth. “Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness, and truth over falsehood,” he declared. “Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge.”
While celebrating the hope and joy of Easter, Pope Francis also turned his gaze to the pain and injustice in the world. He began with a plea for peace in the Holy Land, calling the region “wounded by conflict” and mourning the devastation in Gaza.
“I appeal once again for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” he said, urging the release of hostages and greater access to humanitarian aid. He called on the international community to “come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”
The Pope extended his prayers to Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria, highlighting their struggles and calling on the global Church to support them. He also addressed the crisis in Yemen, describing it as “one of the world’s most serious and prolonged humanitarian crises,” and appealed for a peaceful resolution through dialogue.
Even in celebration, Pope Francis’s message was clear: Easter is a time for hope – and a call to action for justice, mercy, and peace across the globe.
photo: Vatican news
