With war in the Middle East casting a shadow over the celebrations of the most important date on the Christian calendar, Pope Leo XIV used his first Easter address as pontiff to renew pleas for peace and dialogue, and to condemn violence.
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil,” Leo said on Sunday to tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The first U.S.-born pontiff has been increasingly outspoken on the issues of war and peace in recent weeks during the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. His Easter message came amid new Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and President Trump’s threatening to rain down “hell” on Iran.
Under a sunny sky in Vatican City, thousands celebrated Easter Mass and listened to the traditional “Urbi et Orbi,” or “To the City and the World,” message, a compendium of the Vatican’s global concerns and the pope’s priorities.
“Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace,” Leo said in the message. “Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them.”
Cheers and applause rose from the crowd, and thousands of cellphones shot up simultaneously when Leo appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, where he first stood last May after he was elected pope.
His predecessor, Pope Francis, had died a few weeks earlier, the day after Easter. One of Francis’ last acts had been to preside over Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square, ignoring his doctors’ orders to slow down less than a month after he had been discharged from a lengthy hospital stay.
In his own message, Leo borrowed an expression from Pope Francis, citing the increasing “globalization of indifference.” Leo made that plea his own, saying, “We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.” Leo, who tends to avoid direct criticism of nations or leaders, did not name specific conflicts. The Urbi et Orbi messages that popes deliver twice a year, at Christmas and at Easter, often include calls for peace, singling out active global conflicts.
The Rev. Gonzalo de la Morena, a Spanish priest who was among those in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, said he had been touched by the pope’s words. “He made me reflect, also at a personal and social level, that peace and love require sacrifices, but they are worth it,” he said.
After 12 years of Francis’ outspoken papacy, Leo has until now opted for a more deliberate public stance. The war in Iran has led him to be more forthright, particularly after Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, asked Americans to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Pope Leo has not referred specifically to Mr. Hesgeth, but during his Palm Sunday homily a week ago, Leo said that God rejects the prayers of “those who wage war,” and that their “hands are full of blood.”
On Tuesday, speaking to reporters outside the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Leo said he hoped Mr. Trump was “looking for an off-ramp” to end the war. “Hopefully, he is looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created and it’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere,” the pope said.
And in a homily during a Mass on Thursday morning, Leo said that the Christian mission had often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”
On Sunday, he reiterated that “the power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent.”
Leo added that the “true strength that brings peace to humanity” fostered “respectful relationships at every level: among individuals, families, social groups, and nations.”
“We cannot continue to be indifferent,” he said. “And we cannot resign ourselves to evil.”
Eddie and June Graham, who traveled to Rome from Glasgow with their children for Easter, said that while they did not speak fluent Italian, they had understood Leo’s pleas against indifference. “We as humans need to create a critical mass in opposition to violence and war,” Mr. Graham said. “It’s the indifferent middle that actually make all the difference.”
Leo, who leaves for a 10-day trip to Africa on April 13, announced that next Saturday he would celebrate a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Every time I see the pope, it’s emotional,” said Giulia Albanese, a tour guide from Rome, who was taking a break from a tour.