Urbi et Orbi

Easter has arrived for Catholics. In his homily on the resurrection of Christ, Pope Francis called for an end to all wars.

Pope Francis, leading an Easter vigil service scaled down due to COVID-19, said on Saturday he hoped the dark times of the pandemic would end and that people could rediscover "the grace of everyday life".

Pope Francis on Monday assailed the "insatiable greed" of today's consumerism, calling on people in his Christmas homily to make "sharing and giving" more a part of their live, reports AFP. 

"Mankind became greedy and voracious," the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics said in an address to thousands of followers in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Pope Francis urged the world in his Easter message on March 27 to use the "weapons of love" to combat the evil of "blind and brutal violence," following the attacks in Brussels. 

After a week of somber religious events commemorating Jesus' death, Francis said an Easter Sunday Mass under tight security for tens of thousands of people in a sun-drenched St. Peter's Square. 

Pope Francis spoke at the Vatican, giving his annual urbi et orbi ("to the city of Rome and to the world") address at the end of Easter Mass. This year, the Pontiff lamented people's suffering, conflicts taking place in the world and violence. He pleaded for the end of violence, especially in Iraq and Syria. He called for humanitarian aid to make its way to places where it is needed.

In an Easter peace wish, Pope Francis on April 5 praised the framework nuclear agreement with Iran as an opportunity to make the world safer, while expressing deep worry about bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.
     

Pope Francis called for "tenderness" and "warmth" after a violence-plagued year as millions of Christians began marking Christmas.
      
The Argentine pontiff's brief homily was replete with Gospel references in his Christmas Eve mass, broadcast live in 3D for the first time.
      

Christians across the world celebrate Easter Sunday as this year the celebrations of all Christian denominations fall on the same date. 

According to reports, 100 000 faithful from across the world gathered at St. Peter's square in the Vatican to hear Pope Francis' blessing Urbi Et Orbi – To The City and The World at noon.