Pope urges peace in Ukraine during Easter blessing

In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis invoked prayers for each the Ukrainian and Russian folks, praised nations which welcome refugees and known as on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the newest surge in lethal violence to forge a “climate of trust.”

Francis, together with dozens of prelates and tens of 1000’s of trustworthy, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian perception that Jesus rose from the lifeless days after his crucifixion.

The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a conventional speech about troubled locations on the planet. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations,” Francis said Easter’s joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”

Pope Francis has prayed for the people of Ukraine, Russia and other countries in conflict during his Easter blessing. (AP)

The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi,” which implies “to the city and the world.”

Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn’t come down arduous sufficient in his statements on Russia and significantly Russian President Vladimir Putin because the Vatican tries to keep away from alienating Moscow.

“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,” Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica facing the square.

”Comfort the wounded and all those that have misplaced family members due to the battle, and grant that prisoners could return protected and sound to their households.”

Pope Francis in the popemobile blesses the faithful in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican at the end of the Easter Sunday mass. (AP)

He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.”

Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a “resumption of dialogue, in a local weather of belief and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, in order that peace could reign within the Holy City and in all the area,” a reference to Jerusalem.

But Francis additionally famous progress on some fronts.

“Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offers assistance and welcome to all fleeing war and poverty,” he said, without naming any particular nations.

How to care for asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees, and whether to allow them entrance, is a raging political and social debate in much of Europe, as well in the United States and elsewhere.

The marble statue of St Peter towered over the floral decorations in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican. (AP)

Francis also prayed that national leaders “ensure that no man or woman may encounter discrimination” and that there could be “full respect for human rights and democracy.”

With migrants risking their lives in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats in hopes of reaching Europe, the pope lamented that Tunisia’s people, particularly the young, struggle with social and economic hardship.

In the last two weeks, dozens have died or were left missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia.

The pope included Lebanon and two African countries he visited this year – South Sudan and Congo – among the nations in need of ending divisions and building reconciliation.

Speaking about Haiti, he appealed to “political actors and the international community to seek a definitive solution to the many problems that afflict that sorely tried people.”

The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colours lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colourful seasonal flowers that decorated St Peter’s Square. The blooms were trucked in trucks from the Netherlands.

Pope Francis has been using a wheelchair since mid 2022 due to a knee injury. (AP)

By the end of the pope’s appearance, some 100,00 people had flocked to the square in time for the pontiff’s speech, according to the Vatican’s crowd count.

A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye for the Mass 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before.

Francis was hospitalised from March 29 to April 1 for treatment of bronchitis. Still recovering, he skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures.

Near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to run out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough.

He nonetheless made several laps through the square in the popemobile after the Mass, waving and smiling at cheering well-wishers.