Overview
- Pope Leo XIV delivered his first Easter message Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, urging those with weapons and the leaders who can unleash wars to choose peace through dialogue.
- In the Urbi et Orbi blessing, the formal papal message “to the city and the world,” he broke with recent practice by not naming specific conflicts.
- He announced a prayer vigil for peace at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 11, inviting the faithful to join in intercession.
- The pontiff continued reviving traditions during Holy Week, greeting the crowd in multiple languages, washing priests’ feet on Holy Thursday, and carrying the cross for all 14 stations on Good Friday.
- Ongoing fighting has reshaped worship in the region, with Easter ceremonies in Jerusalem scaled back under crowd limits and Armenian Christians in Tehran celebrating under daily airstrikes.