VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis delivered his Easter message and blessing in an empty St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, sending a message of hope for those affected by the coronavirus and challenging world leaders to work together for the common good while addressing the pandemic.
“Dear brothers and sisters, indifference, self-centeredness, division and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time,” Francis said after the morning Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday (April 12).
“We want to ban these words forever!” he added.
In his message, the pope described a world currently faced “with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family.”
He called for a “contagion of hope,” inspired by the Christian faith in the Resurrection of Christ.
Francis spoke directly to world leaders, who are charged with enacting policies to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“I encourage political leaders to work actively for the common good, to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life and, when circumstances allow, to assist them in resuming their normal daily activities,” he said.
Francis mentioned the most vulnerable, the sick and the elderly as the first concern for global leaders in his address. He asked that the poor, the outcast, the refugees and the homeless…
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