In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian 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.
With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a “resumption of dialogue, in a climate of trust and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, so that peace may reign in the Holy City and in the entire region,” a reference to Jerusalem.
With migrants risking their lives in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats in hopes of reaching Europe, the pope lamented that Tunisia’s people, particularly the young, struggle with social and economic hardship. Speaking about Haiti, he appealed to “political actors and the international community to seek a definitive solution to the many problems that afflict that sorely tried people.”
A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye for the Mass 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before.
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