After the Regina Caeli
Dear brothers and sisters,
I want to express my closeness to all our brothers and sisters who, especially in the East, are celebrating Easter today: Dear brothers and sisters, may Risen Lord be with you and fill all of you with his Holy Spirit! Happy Easter to all of you!
And unfortunately, in strike contrast to the Easter message, wars are continuing, and they continue to sow death in horrific ways. Let us grieve over these atrocities and let us pray for the victims, asking God that the world might never more have to experience the shock of violent death by the human hand, but the awe of the life that He gives and renews with his grace!
I am following with concern the events unfolding in Sudan. I am close to the Sudanese people, already so tried, and I invite you to pray so that they might lay down their arms, and pick up the path of peace and harmony.
And I am thinking of our brothers and sisters both in Russia and in Ukraine who are celebrating Easter. May the Lord be near to them and help them to make peace!
I greet all of you, people from Rome and pilgrims, especially the prayer groups who cultivate the spirituality of the Divine Mercy, gathered today in the Shrine of the Holy Spirit in Sassia. And, certain of interpreting the feelings of the faithful throughout the world, I direct a grateful thought to the memory of Saint John Paul II, the object of offensive and unfounded inferences these past few days.
I greet the groups who have come from France, from Brazil, from Spain, from Poland, from Lithuania; the children from Saint-Jean de Passy College from Paris, with their teachers and their families. I greet the faithful from Pescara, the students from the Scuola Santa Maria ad Nives from Genoa, and the children from Marcheno, Brescia.
I greet the Firefighters from various European countries, gathered in Rome for a large demonstration open to the public. Thank you for your service! And I want to tell you something: when I pray for you, I ask for a grace: that you don’t have work!
I wish everyone a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and arrivederci!
