VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥� celebrated his first 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鈥檚 Basilica.
Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, emphasized as a celebration of Jesus鈥� resurrection after being crucified.
鈥淟et 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!鈥� the pope implored.
With the on Iran in its second month and Russia鈥檚 ongoing , Leo acknowledged a sense of indifference 鈥渢o the deaths of thousands of people … to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow 鈥� to the economic and social consequences they produce.鈥欌��
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 鈥済reat thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day.鈥欌��
Francis, weakened by a long illness, died the next day on Easter Monday.
The Urbi et Orbi blessing, Latin for 鈥渢o the city and the world,鈥欌�� has traditionally included a litany of the world鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.鈥欌��
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鈥檚 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鈥� 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.
Christians in the Holy Land mark a subdued Easter
Traditional ceremonies at the , revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus鈥� 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 鈥� normally attended by tens of thousands 鈥� 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鈥檚 top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Gaza鈥檚 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.
鈥淭here is great joy, especially after the ceasefire and after nearly three years of suffering and being unable to celebrate all the holy holidays,鈥� said George Anton from Gaza City. 鈥淧eople are somewhat relieved and more stable.鈥�
Armenian Christians try to show normalcy by celebrating in Iran
Armenian Christians observed Easter at a church in Iran鈥檚 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鈥檚 capital has been targeted by daily airstrikes since the United States and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.
鈥淲hether we like it or not, we have young children who do not understand what鈥檚 going on,鈥� said Juanita Arakel, 40, an English language teacher. 鈥淭hey just need to feel normal.鈥�
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.
鈥淥ur calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this war,鈥� said Sepuh Sargsyan, the archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran. 鈥淥ur calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this war.鈥�
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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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