{"id":41876,"date":"2026-04-05T12:20:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T12:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41876"},"modified":"2026-04-05T12:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T12:20:06","slug":"pope-leo-marks-first-easter-as-pontiff-with-call-for-hope-amid-global-conflicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41876","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo marks first Easter as pontiff with call for hope amid global conflicts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/04\/world-news\/pope-leo-xiv-celebrates-first-easter-vigil-calls-for-harmony-and-peace-in-a-world-torn-by-war\/\">Pope Leo\u00a0celebrated his first Easter Mass<\/a> as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against \u201cthe violence of war that kills and destroys,\u2019\u2019 saying \u201cwe need this song of hope today\u201d as conflicts spread around the world.<\/p>\n<p>With the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/04\/world-news\/us-forces-have-rescued-missing-pilot-of-f-15e-jet-downed-by-iran-reports\/\">US-Israeli war\u00a0on Iran<\/a> in its second month and Russia\u2019s ongoing\u00a0campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities.<\/p>\n<p>In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Pope Leo XIV presides over his first Easter Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square on April 5, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Leo, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/05\/08\/world-news\/american-born-cardinal-robert-prevost-elected-pope\/\">first US-born pope,<\/a> addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter\u2019s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope\u2019s message of hope.<\/p>\n<p>The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks \u201cin injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe 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 he said.<\/p>\n<p>He quoted his <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/20\/world-news\/pope-francis-emerges-for-easter-with-popemobile-tour\/\">predecessor\u00a0Pope Francis\u00a0<\/a>in warning against falling into indifference in the face of \u201cpersistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,\u201d because \u201cit is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He will later deliver the traditional \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d message \u2014 Latin for \u201cto the city and the world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Thousands of worshippers fill St. Peter\u2019s Square as Pope Leo XIV leads the Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican on April 5, 2026.  <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd with a bouquet during the Easter Mass outside St. Peter\u2019s Basilica. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter<\/h2>\n<p>Traditional ceremonies at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/29\/world-news\/israel-bars-catholics-from-praying-at-holy-site-outraging-us-ambassador-mike-huckabee\/\">Church of the Holy Sepulchre<\/a>, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/02\/world-news\/isis-calls-for-attacks-on-us-churches-and-synagogues-across-over-easter\/\">due to ongoing missile attacks.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall \u2014 normally attended by tens of thousands \u2014 was limited to just 50 people.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Pope Leo XIV offers a prayer during Easter Mass, as part of Holy Week celebrations, at the Vatican. <span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Police last week prevented two of the church\u2019s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the pope had\u00a0expressed hope\u00a0that the war could be finished before Easter.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/05\/world-news\/pope-leo-marks-first-easter-as-pontiff-with-call-for-hope-amid-global-conflicts\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Leo\u00a0celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against \u201cthe violence of war that kills and destroys,\u2019\u2019 saying \u201cwe&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}