Pope Francis on Easter: Peaceful Solution to the Syrian Crisis

Local Editor

On Sunday, Pope Francis delivered his first Easter Sunday address to a crowd of more than 250,000 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. From the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, he echoed a message for peace, calling specific attention to the conflict in the Middle East and North Korea. The pontiff, the first from Latin America, delivered the speech in Italian, emphasizing that Italian is the language of the Holy See.
Pope Francis called for a peaceful solution to the conflicts in Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Congo and Korea.

The pope urged antagonists to resort to peace in their striving for an ecumenical conflict-resolution. He singled out bloodshed and suffering in a number of countries with an anticipated forthcoming help for millions of displaced Syrians. He also prayed for the Iraqis and Palestinians, urging to reach some kind of accord with the "Israelis".
Pope Francis urged the Congolese and Central Africans to work for peace and stability; He vigorously condemned hostage-taking in Nigeria and addressed an emotional appeal for the protection of children. The pontiff urged the Koreans to overcome their differences in a spirit of reconciliation and condemned human-trafficking as a form of 21st century slavery. He harshly criticized drug-trafficking and overexploitation of natural resources recalling to that effect his own quotations praying Jesus to render every one of us into custodians in charge of the welfare of this universe.

He mostly called for an end to "violent fundamentalism," terrorism and the "wars and violence which in our days devastate various countries in the Middle East. Francis, who became pope just over two weeks ago, chose, however, to stress Christians' positive relations with Muslims in the region in his brief comments at the end of the ceremony.

He recalled Benedict XVI's 2012 visit to Lebanon when "we saw the beauty and the strong bond of communion joining Christians together in that land and the friendship of our Muslim brothers and sisters and so many others."
Thousands of people packed the Coliseum and surrounding areas for the nighttime procession, holding candles wrapped in paper globes.

In Jerusalem, tens of thousands of pilgrims packed into the Old City for Good Friday -- and in the Philippines Catholic zealots had themselves nailed to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.
Also, Christian denominations in Syria, who follow the Western calendar, celebrated Sunday Easter. The celebrations were limited to performing prayers and masses present at churches in light of the events taking place in the country due to the terrorist acts.
Masses and prayers were held in several churches in Damascus and other provinces, with sermons calling upon the Syrians to adhere to national unity and sit at the dialogue table to put an end to the crisis through dialogue and not by means of weapons.

Source: Websites, edited by moqawama.org