On Easter Monday, the Pope called for reconciliation from St. Peter’s Square at the “Regina Coeli” prayer. It is the only answer to war, he said. “May the grace of the risen Lord give comfort and hope to all who suffer, may no one be abandoned, may quarrels, wars, and disputes give way to understanding and reconciliation,” the pope said.
Francis also addressed the issue of fear. “All our fears stem from the one great fear, the fear of death: fear of disappearing, fear of losing loved ones, of illness, of not making it. But at Easter, Jesus conquered death,” the Holy Father said.
After two years off due to the pandemic, thousands of pilgrims gathered again in St. Peter’s Square for the Easter Monday prayer. The “Regina Caeli” (Queen of Heaven) replaces the Angelus prayer during the Easter season.
During his Easter blessing on Sunday, Francis recalled the suffering of people in Ukraine and several conflict areas. Once again, several thousand people had gathered in the square and cheered the Pope. Francis had called for peace for “long-suffering Ukraine in his Easter message.” “We have seen too much bloodshed, too much violence,” he said in his traditional address to some 100,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
The Holy Father had begun Easter celebrations on Holy Thursday with the traditional washing of feet at the prison in the city of Civitavecchia, north of Rome. On Good Friday, from the Palatine Hill above the Colosseum, he followed the Stations of the Cross, commemorating the Passion of Jesus.
- source: k.at/picture: pixabay.com
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