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Pope Francis during the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square: "Frightened and terrified"
Photo: Alessandra Tarantino / dpa
Pope Francis used his Easter message "Urbi et Orbi" for an urgent appeal against wars and conflicts in the world.
"We have seen too much bloodshed, too much violence," said the head of the Catholic Church on Sunday in front of around 100,000 believers in St. Peter's Square in Rome.
The pope also indirectly criticized Russia for the war of aggression in Ukraine and said that the country had been drawn into a "cruel and senseless war".
When the Pope said he was praying for peace in "sorrowful Ukraine," applause erupted in St. Peter's Square, the Catholic News Agency reported on the speech.
For the first time since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the Easter celebrations in the Vatican could be celebrated almost without restrictions.
The war in Ukraine shaped the Pope's speech, who spoke of an "Easter of War" and also commented on the large number of refugees: "In my heart I carry all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons , the families torn apart, the elderly abandoned, the lives shattered and the cities leveled,” said Francis.
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Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square
Photo: IMAGO/Claudio Peri / IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
The pope also recalled the suffering in conflicts elsewhere in the world, including the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Myanmar and parts of Africa.
The hearts of the faithful were "filled with fear and terror as so many of our brothers and sisters had to shut themselves up to protect themselves from the bombs," Francis said.
"Soon a new dawn of hope will rise over this terrible night of suffering and death!" said the head of the Catholic Church and called on the states to give in.
"May peace be chosen." Governments should stop flexing their muscles while people suffer.
hpp/dpa