In his Easter message, the Pope asked that “those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace”

At the conclusion of the first Holy Week of his pontificate, Leo XIV He presided over the most important celebration of the Christian calendar in a climate of concern over the war in the Middle East.

Last night, Holy Saturday, fears of a worsening of the war scenario also echoed in St. Peter’s Basilica. This morning the pontiff called for hope in the face of violence and war “that kills and destroys” and “the “idolatry of profit” that plunders the earth’s resources.” in his message during the Mass of Resurrection.

In the homily, León warned that “death always lurks” and manifests itself in “partisan selfishness,” the oppression of the poor and the “little attention” to the most fragile.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises everywhere because of the abuses that crush the weakest.” Faced with this, he stressed that Easter is “an unstoppable force”capable of giving light in the deepest darkness.

“Today we need this song of hope,” he stated, asking believers to “take the joy of the resurrection through the streets of the world.”

But the Easter message “is not always easy to accept,” especially when “the burden of sins” or loneliness exhaust hope,” he noted.

He pointed out that the Easter announcement reaches human beings “to the abysses of death” and “opens to the hope that does not fail, to the light that does not go out, to that fullness of joy that nothing can erase.”

“When worries or resentments suffocate the joy of living, when we feel sadness and tiredness, when we feel betrayed or rejected, it does not seem that we have fallen into a tunnel from which we cannot see the exit,” he admitted.

From the altar in front of the basilica came a beautiful display of flower decorations with tens of thousands of flowers contributed by Dutch florists.

After the mass, the Pope moved to the central balcony of the basilica, where on May 8 he appeared before the crowd and the We have the Pope from which the pontiff sent his Urbi et Orbi blessing to Rome and the World.

Leo

He announced that on Saturday the 11th of this month there will be a celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica to implore God for peace.

He sent messages in several languages, as is customary on Easter Day, and called on the world to “choose peace.”

reported “indifference” to wars in the worldwhich left thousands dead.

“We are getting used to violence, we resign ourselves to it and we become indifferent to the death of thousands of thousands of peopleindifferent to the consequences of hatred and division that conflicts sow and their economic and social consequences,” he noted.

Leo XIV called to lay down arms and seek peace in global conflicts through dialogue. He emphasized the message of hope of Easter as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus after being crucified.

“Let our hearts be transformed by Christ’s love for us!” “Let those who have weapons lay them down!” “May those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!” “Not a peace imposed by force but through dialogue!” “Not with the desire to dominate others but to find ourselves!” implored the pontiff.

The Pope mentioned a feeling of indifference “in the face of the death of thousands of people” and in the face of the economic and social consequences that they produce.

Without mentioning the wars in particular, León cited his predecessor, the Argentine Pope Francis, who during his last public appearance from the same main balcony of the Basilica, the day before his death, He reminded the faithful of the “great thirst to die, to kill, that we witness every day”.