In his first Easter message, the most important celebration for Christians, he asked this Sunday for peace and “putting aside all desire for dispute, domination and power” in a “world ravaged by wars and marked by hatred and indifference”, which makes one feel powerless “in the face of evil”. The first American pontiff in history, in a particularly turbulent time, marked by wars and international tensions, has demanded “that those who have weapons in their hands abandon them” and “that those who have the power to unleash wars, choose peace.” And he pointed out: “Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate the other, but to find him.”
However, the Pope has changed the recent tradition of Easter Sunday and in his message City and World in which he gives his blessing “to the city and the world,” he has not mentioned any specific country or specific situation or conflict, as his predecessors did. Since John Paul II, the popes have dedicated Christmas and Easter, the most important holidays for Christianity, to speak out on the open wars and conflicts that afflict the world in a particularly critical tone. Leo XIV himself followed this custom when he recalled numerous open crises on all continents and demanded that “the roar of arms” cease.
This Easter Day, the Pontiff has chosen to continue shaking consciences, but renewing tradition and has delivered a generic message, with a marked criticism of the resort to violence, but without specific admonitions for specific cases. The Pope has denounced that the world is “getting used to violence” and has specified: “We resign ourselves to it and become indifferent. Indifferent to the death of thousands of people. Indifferent to the consequences of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences that these unleash and which, however, we all perceive.”
He has also resorted to a message taken from his predecessor, Pope Francis, who precisely on Easter Sunday last year, one day before he died. “There is an increasingly marked ‘globalization of indifference’, to return to an expression very dear to Pope Francis, who just a year ago, from this lodge, addressed his last words to the world, reminding us: ‘How much will to death we see every day in the numerous conflicts that affect different parts of the world,’ Leo XIV said. And he has claimed: “We cannot continue to be indifferent! We cannot resign ourselves to evil!”
The pontiff, who presented himself to the world a few minutes after being elected Pope demanding “an unarmed and disarming peace,” has launched numerous forceful calls for peace and disarmament, in favor of dialogue and reconciliation throughout his pontificate, which will be one year old next May. But he has done it in a subtle way, avoiding mentioning, on most occasions, specific realities, although it is not difficult to decipher what or who he is referring to. For the moment he has chosen to maintain a low profile, based on discretion, moderation and soft power (soft power), with a very restrained and studied style.
As he himself announced this Sunday, next Saturday, April 11, a prayer vigil for peace will be held in St. Peter’s Basilica, in which he has invited all Christians to participate. “The peace that Jesus gives us is not that which is limited to silencing the weapons, but rather that which touches and transforms the heart of each one of us. Let us convert to that peace of Christ! Let us make the cry of peace that springs from the heart heard!” he pointed out.
At the Easter Sunday Mass, celebrated before delivering the Easter message, the pontiff warned that “death always lurks.” And he has detailed: “We see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the scant attention to the most fragile. We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises everywhere due to the abuses that crush the weakest, in the face of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, in the face of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”
