Pope Leo urges peace in first Easter Mass as Christians celebrate in
Jerusalem, Gaza and Tehran
[April 06, 2026]
By COLLEEN BARRY and PAOLO SANTALUCIA
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Easter Mass as
pontiff with a call Sunday to lay down arms and seek peace to global
conflicts through dialogue, but he departed from a tradition of listing
the world's woes by name in the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the loggia of
St. Peter’s Basilica.
Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, emphasized Easter’s message of hope as a
celebration of Jesus’ resurrection after being crucified.
“Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us!
Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power
to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through
dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter
them!” the pope implored.
With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s
ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo acknowledged a sense of indifference
“to the deaths of thousands of people ... to the repercussions of hatred
and division that conflicts sow … to the economic and social
consequences they produce.’’
Without mentioning the wars by name, Leo quoted his predecessor, Pope
Francis, who during his last public appearance from the same loggia last
Easter reminded the faithful of the “great thirst for death, for
killing, we witness each day.’’
Francis, weakened by a long illness, died the next day on Easter Monday.
The Urbi et Orbi blessing, Latin for “to the city and the world,’’ has
traditionally included a litany of the world’s woes. Leo followed that
formula during his Christmas blessing. There was no immediate
explanation for the shift.
Earlier, Leo addressed some 50,000 faithful from an open-air altar in
St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading
down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring
perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s words.
He implored the faithful in his homily to keep their hope in the face of
death, which lurks "in the abuses that crush the weakest among us,
because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources,
because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.’’
Speaking from the loggia, the pope announced a prayer vigil for peace
April 11 in the basilica.
Small shifts in traditions
Leo greeted the global faithful in 10 languages, including Arabic,
Chinese and Latin, reviving a practice that his predecessor Pope Francis
had let lapse.
Before retreating into the basilica, Leo stepped forward out of the
loggia’s shadow and waved to the cheering crowd below. He later greeted
people in the piazza from the popemobile that took him all the way down
Via della Conciliazione toward the Tiber River and back.
During the marathon that is Holy Week, Leo also reclaimed the tradition
of washing priests’ feet on Holy Thursday, a gesture of encouragement
toward clergy, after Francis had chosen a more inclusive path, traveling
to prisons and homes for the disabled to wash the feet of women,
non-Christians and prisoners.
The 70-year-old pontiff also became the first pope in decades to carry
the light wooden cross for the entire 14 stations during the Way of the
Cross on Good Friday.
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Pope Leo XIV addresses the faithful after delivering the Urbi et
Orbi blessing - Latin for "to the city of Rome and to the world" -
from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica at the end of Easter
Mass he presided over in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday,
April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Christians in the Holy Land mark a subdued Easter
Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered
by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and
resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli
police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public
gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.
The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong
Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing
at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was
limited to just 50 people.
The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities
and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the
church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre.
Gaza’s tiny Palestinian Christian community celebrates first
Easter since ceasefire
At the Holy Family church in Gaza City, Catholics young and old
gathered for a traditional Easter Mass. Singing, they formed a queue
in the aisle, waiting for their chance to kiss a sketch of Jesus
held by a member of the clergy who wiped the glass frame between
turns.
“There is great joy, especially after the ceasefire and after nearly
three years of suffering and being unable to celebrate all the holy
holidays,” said George Anton from Gaza City. “People are somewhat
relieved and more stable.”
Armenian Christians try to show normalcy by celebrating in Iran
Armenian Christians observed Easter at a church in Iran’s capital on
Sunday, striving to maintain a sense of normalcy five weeks into the
war.
Families embraced and children exchanged painted eggs at the St.
Sarkis Cathedral in central Tehran. Iran’s capital has been targeted
by daily airstrikes since the United States and Israel launched the
war on Feb. 28.
“Whether we like it or not, we have young children who do not
understand what’s going on,” said Juanita Arakel, 40, an English
language teacher. “They just need to feel normal.”
The Islamic Republic, with a population of around 90 million, is
home to some 300,000 Christians, mostly Armenians, and three seats
in parliament are reserved for Christians.
“Our calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this war,”
said Sepuh Sargsyan, the archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of
Tehran. “Our calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this
war.”
____
Barry reported from Milan. Associated Press journalists Josef
Federman in Jerusalem, Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip,
and Bassem Mroue in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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