Pope Francis on Easter asks for prayers for Ukrainian, Russian people

VATICAN CITY — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations that welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.”

Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion.

The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations,” Francis said Easter’s joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”

The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, “Urbi et Orbi,” which means “to the city and the world.”

Since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn’t come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Moscow.

“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,″ Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica facing the square. “Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families.”

He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.”

Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

Pope Francis did not go to the Colosseum for the traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross procession. Instead, he watched the event from the Vatican due to unseasonably cold night-time temperatures in Rome.

The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colors lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colorful seasonal flowers that decorated St. Peter’s Square. The blooms were trucked in from the Netherlands.

By the end of the pope’s appearance, some 100,000 people had flocked to the square in time for the pontiff’s speech, according to the Vatican’s crowd count.

Francis was hospitalized March 29-April 1 for treatment of bronchitis.

Near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to run out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough.

He nonetheless made several laps through the square in the popemobile after the Mass, waving and smiling at cheering well-wishers.