During his homily in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday April 4, the Pope deemed
the continuation of wars and the arms race
“
scandalous
” in the context of the pandemic.
The Holy Father also called on the international community to share vaccines with the poorest countries.
Read also: In Iraq, the Pope calls on Eastern Christians not to lose hope
Pope Francis devoted his paschal address, preceding the Urbi et Orbi blessing (to the city of Rome and to the rest of the world), to the most vulnerable, the sick suffering from Covid-19, migrants, people precipitated in precariousness by the pandemic, and the populations victims of the wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Africa.
“
The pandemic is still ongoing;
the social and economic crisis is very serious, in particular for the poorest;
despite this - and this is scandalous - armed conflicts do not cease and military arsenals are being reinforced,
”he lambasted.
The Sovereign Pontiff called for "to put
an end to the clash of arms in beloved and martyred Syria, where millions of people now live in inhuman conditions, as well as in Yemen whose events are surrounded by deafening silence and scandalous, and in Libya where we can finally see the end of a decade of disputes and bloody clashes
”.
Read also: Covid-19: Pope Francis presides over his second Stations of the Cross without an audience
He also spoke of those who in Burma, the scene of a coup d'état and demonstrations bloodily repressed by the military, "are
committed to democracy by making their voices heard peacefully
".
He called on the international community to come to the aid of the "
Lebanese people who are going through a period of difficulties and uncertainties
" and said he hoped that "
Israelis and Palestinians will regain the strength of dialogue to reach a stable solution
", repeating his support to a two independent state solution.
The Pope hailed “
the path of pacification undertaken
” in Iraq, where he went in March - the Argentine's first trip since November 2019 -, blasted “
internal violence and international terrorism
” in the Sahel and Nigeria, and called for the release of prisoners in the conflicts in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh.
He delivered his homily from the sparse pews of St. Peter's Basilica, while Easter celebrations usually attract tens of thousands of pilgrims to the Vatican.
Italy, on this sunny holy weekend, returned to containment to avoid popular and family gatherings in a country already hard hit by the pandemic which has killed more than 110,000 people there.
"Vaccine internationalism"
Regarding the epidemic crisis, Jorge Bergoglio, after paying tribute to the doctors and nurses on the front line, recalled that "
vaccines are an essential instrument in this fight
".
"
In the spirit of an 'internationalism of vaccines', I therefore urge the entire international community to a shared commitment in order to overcome the delays in their distribution and to promote their sharing, in particular with the poorest countries
".
All over the world, he stressed, “
the pandemic has unfortunately dramatically increased the number of poor and the despair of thousands of people
”, calling on “
public authorities
” to offer them “
the aid necessary for sufficient subsistence
” .
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Relive the urbi et orbi blessing of Pope Francis
