In first Easter address, Pope Leo criticizes violence, leaders with ‘power to unleash wars’

Pope Leo XIV used his first Easter mass as pontiff to call for “those who have the power to unleash wars” to seek peace instead.“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,” he said during his “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) blessing.
“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent,” he said.
In his homily for Easter Mass earlier in the day, Leo said he prayed for the faithful to remain hopeful in the face of death found in “the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources and because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”
Leo, the first American-born pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, has been a vocal critic of the ongoing conflict in Iran and has used the 11 months of his papacy to repeatedly denounce global conflicts. 
That role has helped the pontiff emerge as what is increasingly being seen as a “voice of moral opposition” to U.S. policy under President Donald Trump, though Leo has rarely mentioned the president in public statements. 
In addition to opposing the Israeli- and U.S.-led conflict in Iran, Leo has spoken out against the United States’ overthrow of the Nicolas Maduro government in Venezuela, the country’s crackdown on refugees and migrants, and criticized what he called the “deterioration” of trans-Atlantic security alliances. 
The pope also announced plans for a special Peace Vigil that will take place next Saturday inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
More than 50,000 people were gathered under sunny skies Sunday in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s open-air Easter Mass, followed by the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. The square was decked out in white, red, and purple flowers.
Security was conspicuous, with police and military personnel stationed around the square and attendees screened for weapons before they were allowed into the square. 
Leo pronounced blessings in at least 10 languages including English, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Latin, reviving a tradition of multilingual blessings that had lapsed under his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Leo has revived multiple dormant Vatican traditions during Holy Week, including becoming the first pontiff in decades to carry a cross through the 14 Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. 
He also reclaimed the tradition of washing priests’ feet on Holy Thursday, a ceremony designed to encourage clergy. Francis had opted instead to wash the feet of prisoners, refugees, women, non-Christians, and the disabled.

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