{"id":379810,"date":"2026-04-07T16:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/379810\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:17:15","slug":"the-non-violent-power-of-easter-in-pope-leos-appeals-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/379810\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cnon-violent\u201d power of Easter in Pope Leo\u2019s appeals for peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout Holy Week and Easter, Pope Leo XIV made numerous appeals for peace, offering the world an impassioned plea not to be overcome by indifference but to firmly believe in \u201cGod who rejects war.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Isabella H. de Carvalho and Edoardo Giribaldi<\/p>\n

As violence and war plague countries across the world, and news headlines report increasing tensions and rising death tolls every day, Pope Leo XIV’s incessant appeals for peace rang out during the liturgies and celebrations that marked Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, as he emphasized Christ\u2019s Resurrection and triumph over death.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of peace. A God who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,\u201d he said in his homily<\/a> on Palm Sunday, which marked the beginning of the most important week of the year for Catholics.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

From highlighting how God does not listen to the prayer of those who wage war and whose \u201chands are full of blood” on Palm Sunday; to carrying the weight of people\u2019s suffering by carrying the cross during the Via Crucis at the Colosseum on Good Friday; to calling those who have weapons to lay them down during the Urbi et Orbi message<\/a>; Pope Leo\u2019s words were invariably addressed to those who have the power to put an end to conflicts, and his thoughts were with those who are suffering under the effects and threat of violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those who take the sword will perish by sword <\/p>\n

Holy Week opened with Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square on March 29. Before him were 40,000 faithful and 120,000 olive branches, raised to symbolize that gentle peace of which Jesus, the King of peace, the Pope recalled, “offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs.<\/p>\n

It is to them that the Pope addressed the same words spoken by Christ when one of his disciples, according to the Gospel, drew a weapon to defend him: \u201cPut your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus \u201cdid not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war,\u201d the Pope said. “Rather than saving Himself, He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The faithful with olive branches on Palm Sunday in St . Peter’s Square \u00a0 (@Vatican Media)\n <\/p>\n

Good cannot come from abuse of power <\/p>\n

During the Chrism Mass<\/a> on Holy Thursday, celebrated in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, Pope Leo instead invoked a peace that touches every dimension of human existence, especially \u201cin this dark hour of history\u201d in a world \u201ctorn apart by the powers that ravage it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe imperialist occupation of the world is thus disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked,\u201d he continued, adding that\u00a0“the poor, imprisoned, rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing he brings a new creation to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christ gives us an example of self-giving, service and love <\/p>\n

Then, during the Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper<\/a> in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Pope Leo XIV washed the feet of young priests he himself had ordained almost a year earlier.<\/p>\n

He explained how this gesture recalls God\u2019s purificatory power, as he washes not only the blood of conflicts but also the distorted images they produce, such as \u201cidolatry and blasphemy.\u201d This act also purifies \u201cour image of humanity,\u201d the Pope insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, and great when we are feared,\u201d he emphasized. But, he continued,\u00a0“in contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service, and love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo washes the feet of several young priests \u00a0 (@Vatican Media)\n <\/p>\n

Following in Christ\u2019s footsteps <\/p>\n

The Pope\u2019s appeals for peace throughout Holy Week pointed to the ongoing dichotomy between evil and love. Similarly, the meditations<\/a> written by Father Francesco Patton, former Custos of the Holy Land, for the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, presided over by the Pope, echoed this same tension.<\/p>\n

Father Patton retraced the path walked by Jesus among those who shared his faith and those \u201cwho deride or insult him,\u201d while emphasizing that \u201csuch is the reality of our daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope also recalled this same path traced by following in Jesus\u2019 \u201cfootsteps,\u201d while reciting the prayer Omnipotens composed by St. Francis of Assisi, together with about 30,000 faithful at the Colosseum on Good Friday night.<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo during the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum \u00a0 (@Vatican Media)\n <\/p>\n

God does not want our death <\/p>\n

Darkness\u2014as a prelude to Easter morning\u2014accompanied instead the vigil<\/a> in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, which was filled with 6,000 people. God \u201cdoes not desire our death,\u201d Pope Leo underlined in the face of narratives of conflict that reduce victims to mere numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leo XIV urged the creation of a \u201cnew world of peace and unity,\u201d starting from humanity\u2019s failures, as he referred to the sea through which God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. An element that the Pope described as a \u201cgateway to a new life of freedom,\u201d but also \u201ca place of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, news articles reported on yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean as a boat departing from Libya was shipwrecked, and at least 70 people were killed or went missing. The survivors were taken to Lampedusa\u2014an Italian island in the Mediterranean at the crossroads of migration routes\u2014which the Pope will visit on July 4.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica \u00a0 (@Vatican Media)\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is alive and remains with us\u201d <\/p>\n

On the morning of Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIV then celebrated Mass<\/a> in St. Peter\u2019s Square under a clear sky and in the presence of 60,000 faithful. He emphasized how \u201cdeath is always lurking\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable. We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in 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\u2019s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he reiterated how one can\u2014and must\u2014accept the Easter invitation to \u201clift our gaze (…) so that we may discover that Jesus\u2019 tomb is empty, and therefore in every death we experience there is also room for new life to arise,\u201d beyond tombs and suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is alive and remains with us,\u201d he said. \u201cThrough the cracks of resurrection that open up in the darkness, he entrusts our hearts to the hope that sustains us: the power of death is not the final destiny of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

\n St. Peter’s Square during the Easter Sunday Mass \u00a0 (@Vatican Media)\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe power with which Christ rose is entirely non-violent\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n In remarks to journalists, Pope Leo XIV calls on world leaders to \u201ccome back to the table\u201d and solve their problems through dialogue.\n <\/p>\n

Lastly, in Pope Leo\u2019s traditional Urbi et Orbi\u00a0 (\u2018To the City and the World\u2019) message, he issued a final exhortation to not remain indifferent to what is occurring in the world:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, he pointed to how \u201cthe power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent,\u201d and the battles of the world should be overcome with this example of Easter, through hands that embrace and that do not take up arms.<\/p>\n

An appeal that also reverberated in the appeal Leo XIV addressed to Donald Trump and world leaders last Tuesday in Castel Gandolfo:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome back to the table, to dialogue. Let’s look for solutions to problems; let’s look for ways to reduce the amount of violence that we’re promoting so that peace\u2014especially at Easter\u2014might reign in our hearts.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout Holy Week and Easter, Pope Leo XIV made numerous appeals for peace, offering the world an impassioned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-379810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}