Coronavirus: Pope Francis praises health workers, calls for unity as world faces unprecedented crisis
- In a live-streamed Easter message, the pontiff called for global solidarity in fighting the pandemic and urged the easing of international sanctions
- Francis warned the EU that it risked collapse if it did not agree on how to help the region recover
The pope’s Easter “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message, delivered from an empty St. Peter’s Basilica instead of to the usual crowd of tens of thousands in the square outside, was by far his most pressing and political since his election in 2013.
Saying the message of this year’s “Easter of solitude” should be a “contagion of hope,” he heaped praise on doctors, nurses and others risking their lives to save others and hailed those working to keep essential services running.
“This is not a time for indifference, because the whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic,” he said in the message.
“Indifference, self-centredness, division and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time. We want to ban these words forever!” he said.