April 22, 2019

Anna Wood 

Pope Francis delivered his Easter address at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday. He condemned the attacks on three churches, three hotels and a banquet hall in Sri Lanka, which claimed more than 300 lives. 

The nine-minute address on April 21, 2019 was mostly devoted to the conflict zones in the world, including Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Nigeria. He prayed that celebrating Jesus’s resurrection on Easter Sunday could spark humanity as well as inspire humans to open hearts to the vulnerable. He also delivered the message that true renewal begins from heart and from the conscience.

Earlier in April Pope Francis hosted Salva Kiir, President of South Sudan, and Riek Machar, the opposition leader, for a retreat, mentioning that the warfare in that country had killed tens of thousands of people and also displaced millions. He expressed the hope that all people, regardless of their religion and political status, could open a new page and devote themselves to the reconciliation and common good of the nation.

Photo :Webshot.