Rome —
Pope Leo XIV called for dialogue and for those with the power to unleash wars to choose peace, in his first Easter Sunday message since becoming the head of the Catholic Church last year.
Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo said: “Let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil.”
“Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let 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 encounter them!” the pontiff said.
Thousands gathered in the square to hear Leo’s message, with one group holding up a poster in Italian: “Pope Leo we are with you, guide our future.”
In his message, Leo echoed the late Pope Francis’ phrase about the “globalization of indifference” to acknowledge that people are “growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it and becoming indifferent.”
The pontiff said the power of Easter – when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – is “entirely nonviolent.”
Leo also used his Easter Sunday message to announce a special prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica, on Saturday, April 11. The late Pope Francis organized a similar vigil in 2013 for Syria – to rally against the civil war and reject military intervention – which was attended by around 100,000 people.
After delivering his message, Leo wished people a happy easter in 10 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Latin. He then said the Regina Coeli prayer and gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, meaning “To the City and to the World.”
Leo XIV’s first Holy Week and Easter takes place against the backdrop of war and has seen him express hope that US President Donald Trump can find an “off-ramp” to end the conflict in the Middle East.
On Good Friday, the first US-born pontiff carried the cross for the entirety of the “Way of the Cross” service in Rome’s Colosseum, where worshipers heard prayers for deported immigrant children, along with a warning to world leaders that their actions will be judged.
This Sunday, thousands gathered for the Easter Mass and message in a sunny St. Peter’s Square, which, per tradition, has been decked out with flowers and bulbs for the celebrations.
Earlier in the day, in his Easter homily, Pope Leo focused on retaining hope amid the violence of war, climate change and other suffering.
The pontiff said the message of Easter responds to “the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”
“Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit,” the pontiff said in his homily. “Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.