Easter Mass of the Pope: Clear words against “senseless war”

Pope Francis used the Easter Mass to make a clear statement against the war in Ukraine. He compared it to the biblical fraternal conflict between Cain and Abel.

As before the pandemic, it was the largest Easter fair in the world. Tens of thousands of people celebrated with Pope Francis on St. Peter’s Square under blue skies and spring-like temperatures.

The Pope then drove through the crowd of believers again in the white popemobile. Francis expressed himself in detail the Pope in his Easter speech immediately after the mass. In it he made his position on the war in Ukraine clearer than ever:

Bring peace to the stricken Ukraine, which has suffered so much from the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it has been drawn.

Words to which people in St. Peter’s Square responded with applause. Words with which the Pope made it clear that he too sees Ukraine as a victim of a war of aggression. In the past few days, critics have accused Francis of not clearly naming the perpetrators and victims of the war in Ukraine.

Remembering the victims and the refugees

Yesterday evening at Easter Vigil the Pope assured the mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol and Ukrainian parliamentarians in St. Peter’s Basilica of his support through prayers.

In his Easter speech today, too, the Pope left no doubt as to which side he sees himself on in the Ukraine war: “In my heart I carry all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the families torn apart, the old people left alone , the lives shattered and the cities leveled.”

Message of hope – sign of encouragement

Francis compared the war in Ukraine to the biblical fratricidal conflict between Cain and Abel. It is the spirit of Cain that does not see Abel as a brother but as a rival and contemplates eliminating him.

However, Pope Francis emphasized that Easter, together with the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus, means a message of hope, especially in times of war: “Today more than ever we need him who comes to us and tells us again: ‘Peace be with you To you!'”

The pope said it was a sign of encouragement that amid the war across Europe people were ready to take in migrants and refugees. At the same time, Francis called not to forget the other conflicts in the world. The Pope expressly addressed the tensions in the Middle East, but also the situation in Libya, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Again more health problems

The Pope celebrated Easter Mass in person. Yesterday in the Easter Vigil, Francis left the leadership of the liturgy to a cardinal to spare himself. Francis is currently suffering from his knee and hip problems again.

At the Easter mass, the 85-year-old head of the Catholic Church occasionally seemed a bit tired, but otherwise his health problems were not noticeable. From the Benedictine loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, as every year, Francis also spoke the Urbi et Orbi blessing:

Et benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti descendat super vos et maneat semper.

As in previous years, Francis – unlike his predecessor John Paul II, for example – dispensed with Easter wishes in several languages.