Happy Easter, and Happy Passover too, to our Christian and Jewish
friends and readers. I will be offline for a while–heading to church in a
few minutes–but later in the day, we will have a post on a prominent
Democrat that you will not want to miss. So check back frequently! And
enjoy the day.
VATICAN CITY — Speaking to the largest crowd at St. Peter's Square this year, Pope Francis used his Easter blessing Sunday to call for world peace and defend the less fortunate.
An estimated 150,000 gathered in crisp, cool weather to hear the pope's "Urbi et Orbi," Latin for "to the city and the world," address that, in many ways, serves as a precursor to next week's canonizations of former popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
With Easter being one of the most important dates on the Catholic calendar, Francis used the holy day to call for an end to the use of "deadly force" against defenseless populations in Syria, for the easing of tensions in Ukraine, and for an end to the "brutal terrorists attacks" in Nigeria, as well as violence in Iraq, South Sudan and throughout the world.
Speaking from the "loggia" — the same central balcony where he first appeared as pope 13 months ago — Francis called for the "resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine," a symbolic note coming just five weeks before his first trip as pontiff to the Holy Land.
The pontiff also called for the world to "overcome the scourge of hunger," especially for children and the elderly, which he said was aggravated by conflicts, forced migration and wastefulness. He singled out the need for care of "our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic" in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and for
VATICAN CITY — Speaking to the largest crowd at St. Peter's Square this year, Pope Francis used his Easter blessing Sunday to call for world peace and defend the less fortunate.
An estimated 150,000 gathered in crisp, cool weather to hear the pope's "Urbi et Orbi," Latin for "to the city and the world," address that, in many ways, serves as a precursor to next week's canonizations of former popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
With Easter being one of the most important dates on the Catholic calendar, Francis used the holy day to call for an end to the use of "deadly force" against defenseless populations in Syria, for the easing of tensions in Ukraine, and for an end to the "brutal terrorists attacks" in Nigeria, as well as violence in Iraq, South Sudan and throughout the world.
Speaking from the "loggia" — the same central balcony where he first appeared as pope 13 months ago — Francis called for the "resumption of negotiations between Israel and Palestine," a symbolic note coming just five weeks before his first trip as pontiff to the Holy Land.
The pontiff also called for the world to "overcome the scourge of hunger," especially for children and the elderly, which he said was aggravated by conflicts, forced migration and wastefulness. He singled out the need for care of "our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic" in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and for
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