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Agence France-Presse

Associated Press

Pope Francis on Sunday called for peace in Ukraine during this “Easter of war” as he delivered the traditional Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address on St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” the pontiff said.
“Our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war,” he said. “May the leaders of nations hear people’s plea for peace.”
The pontiff had just finished celebrating Easter Mass in the square packed by faithful for the holiday for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020. Applause erupted from many of the 50,000 people in the square and on a nearby avenue when he mentioned Ukraine.
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“Let there be a decision for peace. May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” Francis said.
“Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing.”


The pontiff pointed that two years of the coronavirus pandemic had taken “a heavy toll”.
“It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, pooling our strengths and resources. Instead, we are showing that we still have within us the spirit of Cain, who saw Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thought about how to eliminate him.”
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Francis said he held “in my heart all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly left to themselves, the lives broken and the cities razed to the ground”.
“I see the faces of the orphaned children fleeing from the war,” he said. “May the conflict in Europe also make us more concerned about other situations of conflict, suffering and sorrow, situations that affect all too many areas of our world, situations that we cannot overlook and do not want to forget.”

Among the conflicts cited by the pope were those in the Middle East. He exhorted peace and reconciliation for the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
He also cited Libya as well as Yemen, “which suffers from a conflict forgotten by all”.
Earlier, the pontiff, who has a knee ligament problem, limped badly as he made his way to an altar set up in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. The altar was shaded by a canopy against brilliant sunshine.
Right after the end of Mass, Francis shook hands with prelates, then got aboard the white popemobile for a whirl through the square to greet cheering well-wishers among the rank-and-file faithful.
He waved and patted the head of a baby who was handed to him. His smiles while greeting the crowd were a rare departure of late for the pope, who has used many of his appearances in recent weeks to issue sombre denunciations of the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in London, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called for Russia to declare a ceasefire and withdraw from Ukraine. The leader of the Anglican church said Easter is a time for peace and not “blood and iron”.
Noting that in the Eastern Orthodox church followed by many in Russia and Ukraine Sunday marks the start of Holy Week – with Easter coming on April 24 – Welby exhorted Russia to withdraw from Ukraine and commit to talks.
In an unusually blunt political remark, Welby also condemned the British government’s recent plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda as going against God.
Warm weather and the easing of many pandemic restrictions – including what had been for most of the pandemic in Italy a mandatory outdoor mask requirement – have seen tourism boom in Rome, with many visitors flooding the city for Holy Week ceremonies that culminated on Easter.
In Spain, believers and secular enthusiasts flocked back in large numbers to Holy Week processions this week for the first time since the start of the pandemic after most health restrictions were lifted.


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Pope Francis

Pope Francis makes ‘plea for peace’ for war-torn Ukraine in Easter Sunday speech

Pope Francis delivers the traditional ‘Urbi et Orbi’ at the end of the Catholic Easter Sunday. Photo: AP

Pope Francis abroad the Pope Mobile at the end of Easter Mass in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 17, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE 

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby leads the Easter Sung Eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral in England on April 17, 2022. Photo: PA via AP 

Pope Francis visits Ukrainian war refugees at Vatican children’s hospital in Rome

Pope Francis blesses an injured child who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a visit to the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome, Italy on March 19. Photo: Vatican Media / Handout via Reuters

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Pope Francis walks past Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, second from right, and Ukrainian politicians during an Easter vigil in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on April 16. Photo: AP 

Pope Francis prays during an Easter vigil ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on April 16. Photo: AP 

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Indian actors (from left) NT Rama Rao Jnr, Alia Bhat and Ram Charan with director SS Rajamouli of Telugu-language period action drama film RRR. Photo: AFP

Indian actors NT Rama Rao Jnr, left centre, and Ram Charan, right centre, stars of the Telugu-language period action drama film RRR. Photo: AFP

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Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, and her son Oleg, 46, inside the room of her son Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha, near Kyiv, Ukraine. Nadiya is trying to bring Vadym’s body home for burial. Photo: AP

Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, holding a portrait of her sons Oleg and Vadym. Vadym, 48, was among those killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha, near Kyiv. Photo: AP

A bridge near Kyiv destroyed by Ukrainian soldiers to deter the Russian military’s advance to the capital. Photo: Kyodo

Ukrainian firefighters pose for photos on Saturday with a mannequin found in debris in an area hit by Russian artillery shelling in Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine. Photo: EPA-EFE

A Ukrainian firefighter extinguishes the fire in a damaged building in the city of Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Burned cars outside a destroyed building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

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The pontiff celebrated Easter Mass in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020
He pleaded for an end to the violence in Ukraine, and also exhorted peace and reconciliation for the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq



He pleaded for an end to the violence in Ukraine, and also exhorted peace and reconciliation for the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.


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Ukraine war