Thousands cheer pope in 1st Easter Sunday mass
Source: Agencies |
April 1, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POPE Francis delivered a plea for peace in his first Easter Sunday message to the world, decrying seemingly endless conflicts in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula after celebrating Mass along with more than 250,000 people in flower-bedecked St Peter's Square.
Francis shared in his flock's exuberance as they celebrated Christianity's core belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead following crucifixion. After Mass, he stepped aboard an open-topped white popemobile for a cheerful spin through the joyous crowd, kissing babies and patting children on the head.
One admirer of both the pope and of the pope's favorite soccer team, Argentina's Saints of San Lorenzo, insisted that Francis take a team jersey he was waving at the pontiff. A delighted Francis obliged, briefly holding up the shirt, and the crowd roared in approval.
Francis has repeatedly put concern for the poor and suffering at the center of his messages, and he promoted the causes of peace and social justice in the Easter speech delivered from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the same place from where he was introduced to the world as the first Latin American pope on March 13, shortly after his election.
He said he was aiming his Easter greetings, at "every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons." Francis prayed that Jesus would inspire people to "change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."
Francis shared in his flock's exuberance as they celebrated Christianity's core belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead following crucifixion. After Mass, he stepped aboard an open-topped white popemobile for a cheerful spin through the joyous crowd, kissing babies and patting children on the head.
One admirer of both the pope and of the pope's favorite soccer team, Argentina's Saints of San Lorenzo, insisted that Francis take a team jersey he was waving at the pontiff. A delighted Francis obliged, briefly holding up the shirt, and the crowd roared in approval.
Francis has repeatedly put concern for the poor and suffering at the center of his messages, and he promoted the causes of peace and social justice in the Easter speech delivered from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the same place from where he was introduced to the world as the first Latin American pope on March 13, shortly after his election.
He said he was aiming his Easter greetings, at "every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons." Francis prayed that Jesus would inspire people to "change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace."
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