About 50 thousand faithful are present in St. Peter’s Square for the Easter Mass presided over by Pope Francis. In the prayers of the faithful, there is also an invocation in Ukrainian: God “grant our deceased brothers and sisters to participate in the eternal Easter”. Prayers were also said in Arabic, Chinese, German and English.
“It’s a” Lent that doesn’t seem to want to end. We have two years of pandemic behind us, which have left heavy marks. It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, putting together our strengths and resources … And instead we are showing that in us there is still the spirit of Cain, who looks at Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and think about how to eliminate him “, Francis has in the Urbi et Orbi blessing.
Via Crucis at the Colosseum, the Pope’s message: Irina and Albina together with their hands on the cross
by Viola Giannoli
“I hold in my heart all the numerous Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the families divided, the elderly left alone, the broken lives and the cities razed to the ground”, continued Bergoglio. “I have in my eyes the gaze of children who have been orphaned and who are fleeing the war. Looking at them we cannot help but feel their cry of pain, together with that of the many other children who suffer all over the world: those who are dying of hunger or absence of care, those who are victims of abuse and violence and those who have been denied the right to be born “.
Andrea Riccardi: “A truce in Orthodox Easter to build peace”
by Giovanna Casadio
However, Pope Francis stressed that “in the pain of war there are also encouraging signs, such as the open doors of many families and communities that welcome migrants and refugees throughout Europe. May these numerous acts of charity become a blessing for our societies, which are sometimes degraded. from so much selfishness and individualism, and contribute to making them welcoming for all “.
“May the conflict in Europe make us more solicitous even in the face of other situations of tension, suffering and pain, which affect too many regions of the world and we cannot and do not want to forget. May it be peace for the Middle East, torn apart by years of divisions and conflicts. this glorious day we ask for peace for Jerusalem and peace for those who love it, Christians, Jews and Muslims “, he said,” May Israelis, Palestinians and all the inhabitants of the Holy City, together with pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, live in fraternity and freely access the Holy Places in mutual respect for the rights of each “.
Equally “may it be peace and reconciliation for the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and in particular for all Christian communities living in the Middle East. May it also be peace for Libya, so that it may find stability after years of tensions, and for Yemen, which suffers from a forgotten conflict with constant victims: the truce signed in recent days may restore hope to the population “.
After the end of the solemn celebration of Easter mass, Pope Francis made a long tour of St. Peter’s Square to greet the crowd. The Pope, first standing then sitting on an open car, blessed above all the children who were brought to him, and gave a rosary to a disabled young man. Bergoglio’s gesture was intended to seal the full resumption of activities and contact between the Pope and the people after two years of pandemic.