Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 5 April 2015
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Pope
Francis speaks from the central loggia of St Peters' basilica during the
"Urbi et Orbi" blessing for Rome and the world following the Easter
Mass in the
Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
|
Vatican
City (AFP) - Pope Francis appealed Sunday for an end to "absurd
violence" in hotspots around the world and said the international
community must not stand by in the face of the "immense humanitarian
tragedy" in Syria and Iraq.
In his
traditional Easter message, the 78-year-old pontiff said he was praying for
those killed in armed conflict, including the students massacred by Somali
gunmen at a university in Kenya.
Tens of
thousands of pilgrims huddled under a sea of umbrellas in a rain-soaked St
Peter's Square to hear the pope deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the
City and World) blessing, broadcast live to dozens of countries.
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Pope
Francis greets the crowd from the
popemobile after the Easter Mass at
St
Peter's square in the Vatican on
April 5, 2015 (AFP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)
|
He called
on the international community to "not stand by before the immense
humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous
refugees" created by the two conflicts.
He also
prayed for the victims of Thursday's attack in Kenya that left 148 people dead,
with survivors sayng the militants spared Muslim students but taunted Christian
and Jewish students before killing them.
"I
think in particular of the young people who were killed last Thursday at
Garissa University College in Kenya," he said.
Earlier
Francis greeted pilgrims personally as he rode through the flower-bedecked
square aboard his open Popemobile after presiding over Easter mass.
The most
important and joyous moment of the Catholic calendar, Easter celebrates the day
when Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.
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Pope
Francis greets the crowd from
the popemobile after the Easter Mass
at the
Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP
Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
|
The
Argentine pope pleaded for "absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of
violence" in Libya to be halted, and voiced his "desire for peace,
for the good of the entire people" in war-battered Yemen and Ukraine.
Without
referring to a particular hotspot, Francis said: "Those who bear within
them God's power, his love and his justice, do not need to employ
violence."
Be
'respectful, ready to help'
He prayed
for "all who have been kidnapped, and for those forced to abandon their
homes and their dear ones" in armed conflict and attacks by extremists in
Nigeria and South Sudan as well as parts of Sudan and the Democratic Republic
of Congo.
In
addition, he urged "peace and freedom for the many men and women subject
to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and
groups (and) for the victims of drug dealers... And we ask peace for this world
subjected to arms dealers."
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Pope
Francis greets the crowd from
the popemobile after the Easter Mass
at the
Vatican on April 5, 2015 (AFP
Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
|
Instead,
Christians should "seek to live in service to one another, not to be
arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help," he said.
Sunday's
Easter observances capped a long and demanding Holy Week that left Francis at
times appearing tired.
On Friday
he presided over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at
Rome's Colosseum evoking the last hours of Jesus's life.
The day
before Francis celebrated two masses -- one for priests, and the other at
Rome's Rebibbia prison, where he washed the feet of 10 inmates symbolically
evoking Christ's humility -- a theme he took up again on Sunday.
"To
enter into the mystery, we need to 'bend down', to abase ourselves,"
Francis said.
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