The 85-year-old Pope made the comments in “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) which is addressed – traditionally an overview of global conflicts – to about 100,000 people in St. Peter’s Square. It was the first Easter since 2019 that the public was allowed to enter the square to hear the speech twice a year after two years of restrictions for COVID-19. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Francis dedicated much of the message to Ukraine, comparing the shock of another war in Europe with the shock of the apostles when the gospel says they saw the resurrected Jesus. “Our eyes, too, are skeptical of this Easter of war. We have seen too much blood, too much violence. Our hearts are also filled with fear and anguish, as many of our brothers and sisters had. “They should be locked away to be safe from the bombings,” he said. “May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, which is suffering so much from the violence and destruction of the brutal and irrational war it has been dragged into,” he said. Moscow describes the operation, which began on February 24, as a “special military operation.” Francis, who did not name Russia by name, has already rejected the term, calling it war and has previously used terms such as unwarranted aggression and invasion. “Let there be a decision for peace. May there be an end to muscle spasms while people are suffering,” Francis said on Sunday, thanking those who had received refugees from Ukraine, most of whom had gone to Poland. Earlier this month in Malta, Francis indirectly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, saying a “strongman” was inciting a conflict over nationalist interests. read more Pope Francis leads the Easter Liturgy in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, April 17, 2022. REUTERS / Yara Nardi read more NUCLEAR NAME Francis has reintroduced the spectrum of war leading to a nuclear conflict, something he has spoken about many times since the Russian invasion began. This time, he quoted the 1955 manifesto of the philosopher Bertrand Russell and the physicist Albert Einstein: “Will we put an end to the human race or will humanity renounce war?” Francis, who suffers from leg pain, appeared comfortably during the long service that preceded the “Urbi et Orbi” speech and then walked the crowd in the square and a nearby street while sitting with a light white mobile priest. Then read most of the address from the balcony sitting, standing only at the beginning and for the final blessing. On Saturday night, he attended, but did not precede an Easter vigil, apparently to rest on Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar. read more “Please, let’s not get used to the war,” said Francis, looking down on the square adorned with tens of thousands of flowers donated by the Netherlands. “Let us all commit ourselves to begging for peace, from our balconies and in our streets. May the leaders of the nations hear the call of the people for peace.” “I hold in my heart all the many victims of Ukraine, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly left behind, the lives broken and the cities flattened,” he said. He also called for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians and between the people of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which he is due to visit in July. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Philip Pullella Edited by Raissa Kasolowsky and Helen Popper Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
