Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130326/pope-live-vatican-guesthouse-until-further-notice

March 26, 2013 12:32
Pope to live in Vatican guesthouse 'until further notice'

Pope Francis on Tuesday announced he will be staying in the Vatican's guesthouse, rather than moving into the vast palace used as the official papal residence.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the new pontiff would remain in the 120-room guesthouse among other members of the clergy "until further notice."

"He is trying out this type of simple living with other priests," Lombardi said, without saying when, or even if, the pope would move into the papal residence.

"This morning he let his fellow cardinals know that he will keep living with them for a certain period of time."

The pontiff has been taking his meals in the common dining room of the guesthouse and celebrating 7am mass with Vatican employees in its main chapel.

However Lombardi said the pope had moved out of the simple room he was allocated during the conclave that elected him and is now staying in a slightly larger suite where he can receive visitors.
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[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/26/pope:_open_your_hearts_to_the_sweetness_of_god’s_forgiveness/en1-677051

2013-03-26 15:56:06
Pope: Open your hearts to the sweetness of God’s forgiveness

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Commenting on the Gospel of the day, John Chapter 13, which recounts Judas’ betrayal of Christ, the Pope noted “everyone experiences the dark night of the sinner”, but Jesus “has an embrace” for us all.

Pope Francis’s brief reflection comes from this comment on the atmosphere: the night envelops Judas, he noted, it also envelops his heart. It is the worst kind of night, the "night of the corrupt", a "definitive night, when the heart has closed in on itself” in a way that it “does not know how, does not want to" escape from.

He continued, the “nighttime of the sinner” is different, it is "temporary" and it is a night with which “we are all familiar”. How many days of this nighttime “have we known”, how many times has night fallen and cast our hearts in darkness.

Pope Francis said, it is at these times that hope appears and pushes us towards a new encounter with Jesus. “Do not be afraid”, he reiterated, “of this nighttime of the sinner”. The most beautiful thing is to name the sin," confess our sins, and thus experience along with St. Paul who said that his glory was “Christ crucified in his sins. Why? Because he, in his sins, found Christ crucified who forgave him".

Pope Francis then focused on the reality of forgiveness – or according to today's liturgy - "tasting the sweetness of forgiveness".
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Fr. Lombardi later told Vatican Radio: “At the end of Mass this morning, the Holy Father with very simple words hinted to those present that he will - at least at this stage - stay and live with them in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope has moved out of the room lived in during the Conclave to larger rooms, normally reserved for important guests, and where there is also the possibility of receiving guests in greater comfort. But for audiences, for his normal daily activities – meetings with large groups, audiences with important visitors, and so on – for several days now he has already been using the Papal apartments reserved for such occasions on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace: the Clementine Hall, the private library and other rooms reserved for the Holy Father’s official activities. He then usually returns to Santa Marta as his home base”.

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/27/audience:_open_the_doors_of_your_hearts_[full_text]/en1-677277

2013-03-27 12:45:38
Audience: Open the doors of your hearts [full text]

(Vatican Radio) “Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes - what a pity, so many parishes are closed! - our parishes, movements, associations, and to "step outside" towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and joy of our faith", said Pope Francis Wednesday as he held his first ever general audience in a packed and sunny St Peter’s Square. Emer McCarthy reports Listen: RealAudioMP3

"Always step outside yourself! And with the love and tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands, our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our actions fruitful”.


It was also announced Wednsday that the solemn celebration of the Eucharist during which Francis will take possession of the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome will take place in the Lateran Basilica on 7 April, the Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday, at 5:30pm.

Below please find a Vatican Radio translation of Pope Francis’ catechesis for his first General Audience, Wednesday March 27, 2013:
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[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-app-tops-itunes-charts/

Pope app tops iTunes charts

Denver, Colo., Mar 26, 2013 / 02:09 am (CNA).- A Vatican-sponsored news application for smart phones known as “The Pope App” has risen to the top of the charts in the iTunes store, reflecting a spike in interest in the papacy and newly-elected Pope Francis.

In the last week, The Pope App is the most-downloaded news app for iPhone in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Venezuela, Peru, Poland, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, and Pope Francis’ home country of Argentina.

It is the second most downloaded news app in France and Germany and the third most downloaded in Germany. The app also ranks in the top ten in eight other countries, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications said March 23.

The Pope App is managed by the Pontifical Council and uses content from www.news.va, the Vatican’s multimedia, multilingual news portal.

The application provides news and official speeches from Pope Francis as well as images and videos of his appearances. Users can access live coverage of papal events and receive alerts about them.

In addition, it gives users access to live webcams of the Vatican, including a view overlooking St. Peter’s Square, a view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, Bl. John Paul II’s tomb, and the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo.

The app is available for the iPhone, the iPad and Android devices. The high-definition iPad version was recently released, offering higher resolution versions of the same content.

Pope Benedict XVI launched The Pope App on Jan. 23. Since then, it has been downloaded more than 155,000 times across all mobile devices.
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[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/28/pope_to_priests:_go_out_to_the_outskirts_as_shepherds/en1-677782

2013-03-28 16:58:08
Pope to priests: go out to the "outskirts" as shepherds

Vatican Radio) In Rome this Holy Thursday, Pope Francis celebrated his first Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Tracey McClure reports…

Listen: RealAudioMP3
In his homily, the Pope began by expressing his joy over celebrating his first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Rome and he reminded the clergy present that he would be among them in recalling their priestly ordination.

In fact, some 1600 diocesan priests, religious, bishops and cardinals renewed their priestly vows during the morning Liturgy in a St. Peter’s packed, too, with hundreds religious sisters and faithful. This is the mass in which the Bishop of Rome, like those in other dioceses around the world, blesses the oils which will be used in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and the Anointment of the Sick over the coming year.
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[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/28/pope:_homily_for_chrism_mass_[full_text]/en1-677586

2013-03-28 10:08:48
Pope: Homily for Chrism Mass [full text]

Vatican Radio) Below please find the official text of Pope Francis’ Homily for Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday 2013:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning I have the joy of celebrating my first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Rome. I greet all of you with affection, especially you, dear priests, who, like myself, today recall the day of your ordination.
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[grace-land]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pope-francis-makes-1st-appointment-names-successor-in-buenos-aires-1.1214646

Pope Francis makes 1st appointment, names successor in Buenos Aires
Published Thursday, March 28, 2013 7:46AM EDT 
Last Updated Thursday, March 28, 2013 12:19PM EDT 

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Pope Francis has made his first appointment of a bishop, naming Mario Poli on Thursday to succeed him as archbishop of Buenos Aires and the top churchman in Argentina.

Poli, 66, is a priest very much in Francis' vein, focused on pastoral work, and he made news recently when he publicly dressed-down a priest who had posted a Facebook greeting on the birthday of former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla.

Poli has been the bishop in Santa Rosa in the rural La Pampa province, and from 2002-2008 he served as one of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's auxiliary bishops in the Argentine capital, but he was not among the church officials rumoured to be top candidates for the post.
Read more...

[grace-land]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/28/pope-frances-washes-feet/2028595/

Pope Francis washes feet of young detainees in ritual
7:49p.m. EDT March 28, 2013

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, a remarkable choice given that the rite re-enacts Jesus' washing of the feet of his male disciples.

The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the 12 selected for the foot-washing rite included Orthodox and Muslim detainees as well, news reports said.

Because the inmates were mostly minors — the facility houses inmates aged 14-to-21 — the Vatican and Italian Justice Ministry limited media access inside. But Vatican Radio carried the Mass live, and Francis told the detainees that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service.
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[grace-land]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gf3Zq4isb4B_cbtpiyz-_vgiSUqw?docId=022edfeb899d4074bb56ca8c058e76d4

Pope washes women's feet in break with church law
38 minutes ago 

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Before he became pope, as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio celebrated the ritual foot-washing in jails, hospitals or hospices — part of his ministry to the poorest and most marginalized of society. He often involved women. Photographs show him washing the feet of a woman holding her newborn child in her arms.

That Francis would include women in his inaugural Holy Thursday Mass as pope was remarkable, however, given that current liturgical rules exclude women.

Canon lawyer Edward Peters, who is an adviser to the Holy See's top court, noted in a blog that the Congregation for Divine Worship sent a letter to bishops in 1988 making clear that "the washing of the feet of chosen men ... represents the service and charity of Christ, who came 'not to be served, but to serve.'"

While bishops have successfully petitioned Rome over the years for an exemption to allow women to participate, the rules on the issue are clear, Peters said.

"By disregarding his own law in this matter, Francis violates, of course, no divine directive," Peters wrote. "What he does do, I fear, is set a questionable example."

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he didn't want to wade into a canonical dispute over the matter. However, he noted that in a "grand solemn celebration" of the rite, only men are included because Christ washed the feet of his 12 apostles, all of whom were male.

"Here, the rite was for a small, unique community made up also of women," Lombardi wrote in an email. "Excluding the girls would have been inopportune in light of the simple aim of communicating a message of love to all, in a group that certainly didn't include experts on liturgical rules."
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[grace-land]

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/21824550/kailua-artists-make-gift-for-pope-francis-from-the-white-house

Kailua artists make gift for Pope Francis from the White House
Posted: Mar 28, 2013 11:03 PM CDT Updated: Mar 28, 2013 11:07 PM CDT 



KAILUA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
Pam Aqui owns a small business out of her Kailua home called Heirloom Rosaries. Her phone rang earlier this month and the caller ID said US Government. She feared it was the IRS. Instead it was the White House making a once in a lifetime request.

"I didn't even answer the phone Heirloom Rosaries, I just said hello?" laughed Aqui. "Like what could you want?"

What they wanted was a rosary for the new Pope as a gift from the United States Government. Although the White House's initial request wasn't going to work.

"First she wanted beads made from a tree fallen on the White House grounds. I said I can't do that. She said can you make koa and I said yes," said Aqui.

Koa is the native wood cherished in Hawaii. She shaped and twisted the thickest silver wire and wove in big Koa beads.

"This is exciting. This doesn't happen to people like me every day," said Aqui.

So how was this humble woman chosen? It's unknown exactly. She lives in Kailua where the President vacations. She was also a classmate of Vice President Joe Biden's at the University of Delaware although she's never met either of them.
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[Sister]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gf3Zq4isb4B_cbtpiyz-_vgiSUqw?docId=022edfeb899d4074bb56ca8c058e76d4

Pope washes women's feet in break with church law
38 minutes ago 

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Before he became pope, as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio celebrated the ritual foot-washing in jails, hospitals or hospices — part of his ministry to the poorest and most marginalized of society. He often involved women. Photographs show him washing the feet of a woman holding her newborn child in her arms.

That Francis would include women in his inaugural Holy Thursday Mass as pope was remarkable, however, given that current liturgical rules exclude women.

Canon lawyer Edward Peters, who is an adviser to the Holy See's top court, noted in a blog that the Congregation for Divine Worship sent a letter to bishops in 1988 making clear that "the washing of the feet of chosen men ... represents the service and charity of Christ, who came 'not to be served, but to serve.'"

While bishops have successfully petitioned Rome over the years for an exemption to allow women to participate, the rules on the issue are clear, Peters said.

"By disregarding his own law in this matter, Francis violates, of course, no divine directive," Peters wrote. "What he does do, I fear, is set a questionable example."

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he didn't want to wade into a canonical dispute over the matter. However, he noted that in a "grand solemn celebration" of the rite, only men are included because Christ washed the feet of his 12 apostles, all of whom were male.

"Here, the rite was for a small, unique community made up also of women," Lombardi wrote in an email. "Excluding the girls would have been inopportune in light of the simple aim of communicating a message of love to all, in a group that certainly didn't include experts on liturgical rules."
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I believe it is outstanding that he washed the women's feet.  To me, it is a clear sign of his true servant's heart.
Thanks for all the posts grace-land.  I am finding him quite fascinating (in a very good way).

[grace-land]

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/world/pope-francis-leads-good-friday-worship-via-crucis-ceremony

Pope Francis leads Good Friday worship, Via Crucis ceremony
Posted: 03/29/2013
Last Updated: 6 hours and 51 minutes ago

VATICAN CITY -
(CNN) -- Pope Francis presided over a Good Friday service at St. Peter's Basilica Friday, and later will head to one of Rome's most famous landmarks, the Colosseum, to lead the Way of the Cross ceremony.

The reading of the account of the Lord's Passion, from the gospels, will be echoed in Roman Catholic churches around the world on Friday.

To celebrate the Way of the Cross, or Via Crucis, the pope will lead a candlelit procession around the Roman amphitheater, according to Vatican Radio.

In Jerusalem, a similar procession takes place every Good Friday along the winding streets of the old city.

It's the first time Francis has led events on Good Friday, one of the most important days of the Christian calendar, as the head of the Catholic Church.

Mass is not celebrated on Good Friday, so the communion distributed at the Celebration of the Lord's Passion is consecrated on Holy Thursday.
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[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/29/vatican:_passion_of_our_lord_sermon_[full_text]/en1-678145

2013-03-29 18:18:13
Vatican: Passion of Our Lord Sermon [Full text]


(Vatican Radio) In silent procession, wearing red vestments, Pope Francis made his way down the nave of St Peter’s basilica as the sunset over the dome on Friday evening. There before the High Altar, he lay prostrate in prayer. This was the opening act of the liturgy of Our Lord’s Passion, the central commemoration of Good Friday, the memorial of Christ’s suffering and death for the salvation of mankind.

Emer McCarthy reports: RealAudioMP3

The Holy Father stood as three deacons, two Franciscans and a Dominican, chanted the account of the Passion according to St. John. As is tradition, the papal preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, delivered the Good Friday Sermon, this year titled "Justified as a Gift through Faith in the Blood of Christ".
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Video at link

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2013/03/29/2036993/
Pope Francis prostrate on Good Friday

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/young-lebanese-catholics-write-via-crucis-meditati

Young Lebanese Catholics write Via Crucis meditations
2013-03-29 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) The meditations for the Via Crucis on Good Friday at Rome’s Colosseum have been written by a group of young Catholics from Lebanon. The meditations were written under the guidance of the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Rai, who was invited to write them following Pope Benedict’s pastoral visit to Lebanon last year.
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Video of Way of the Cross of Good Friday at the link below.  Please scroll down the page to view the video.
http://www.news.va/en

[grace-land]

http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/stations/menu.html

Friday - March 29, 2013
Stations Of The Cross
According to the Method of St. Francis of Assisi

For Roman Catholics throughout the world, the Stations of the Cross are synonymous with Lent, Holy Week and, especially, Good Friday. This devotion is also known as the "Way of the Cross", the "Via Crucis", and the "Via Dolorosa." It commemorates 14 key events on day of Christ's crucifixion. The majority concern His final walk through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the Cross.

The Stations originated in medieval Europe when wars prevented Christian pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land. European artists created works depicting scenes of Christ's journey to Calvary. The faithful installed these sculptures or paintings at intervals along a procession route, inside the parish church or outdoors. Performing the devotion meant walking the entire route, stopping to pray at each "station."
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Station 1  Jesus Is Condemned To Death
Station 2 Jesus Is Made To Carry His Cross
Station 3 Jesus Falls The First Time
Station 4 Jesus Meets His Sorrowful Mother
Station 5 Simon Of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
Station 6 Veronica Wipes The Face Of Jesus
Station 7 Jesus Falls The Second Time
Station 8 The Women Of Jerusalem Weep Over Jesus
Station 9 Jesus Falls The Third Time
Station 10 Jesus Is Stripped Of His Garments
Station 11 Jesus Is Nailed To The Cross
Station 12 Jesus Is Raised Upon The Cross And Dies
Station 13 Jesus Taken Down From The Cross And Placed In The Arms Of His Mother
Station 14 Jesus Is Laid In The Sepulcher
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[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/30/shroud_of_turin_exhibited_on_tv_for_holy_saturday_/en1-678406

2013-03-30 17:18:32
Shroud of Turin exhibited on TV for Holy Saturday



(Vatican Radio) The famous Shroud of Turin was exhibited live on Italian television on Holy Saturday afternoon, for the devotion of the faithful. It is only the second time in its remarkable history that the Shroud of Turin has been exhibited on live television.

The almost four and a half meter cloth bears the photo-negative image of a man who appears to have been crucified. Although the Church takes no official position on its authenticity, the Shroud has been venerated by the faithful for centuries as the burial cloth of Jesus.

In one of his final acts before his resignation, Benedict XVI authorised this special “ostension” – or solemn devotional exposition – of the Shroud. In a video-message for the occasion, his successor, Pope Francis, explained “even if it takes place in this way, we do not merely ‘look’, but rather we venerate by a prayerful gaze.”
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Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis video-message for the “ostension” of the Holy Shroud of Turin:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I join all of you gathered before the Holy Shroud, and I thank the Lord who, through modern technology, offers us this possibility.
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[grace-land]

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/03/29/shroud-turin-research-pope-first-century

1st century origins for Shroud of Turin? Yes, Lord!
updated 5:09 PM EDT, Fri March 29, 2013

If you've ever wondered whether Jesus was a real person or simply the focal character of a remarkable story, you aren't alone. Millions of people have done the same. And surely those same people are thrilled to hear the latest news: that new research proves that the Shroud of Turin dates back to the 1st century, after the period that Jesus is recorded in Scripture to have lived and died.

The research comes from a new book called “Il Mistero della Sindone” (The Mystery of the Shroud) by Giulio Fanti. Tests were carried out in the University of Padua labs by a number of university professors from different Italian schools. Chemical and mechanical tests were performed to determine the new information. An FT-IR system used infrared light for the first chemical tests, while a process called Raman spectroscopy was used for the second. The third test was performed using mechanical parameters linked to the voltage of attached wires.

"We carried out three alternative dating tests on the shroud, and they all gave the same result ... they all traced back to the date of Jesus, with a possible margin of error of 250 years," Giulio Fanti, the co-author of “Il Mistero della Sindone,” told CNN.

So what does it all mean? Plain and simple, the Shroud of Turin is likely not, as previously believed, a fake. Or if it is, someone made it a long time ago.
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[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/welcome-jesus-as-a-friend-pope-urges-at-easter-vigil-mass/

Welcome Jesus as a friend, Pope encourages at Easter Vigil

Vatican City, Mar 30, 2013 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis called on Christians to let the risen Jesus enter their lives and to welcome him with trust as a friend during the Church's most holy night of the year.

“If up until now you have kept him at a distance, step forward...he will receive you with open arms,” Pope Francis said at Saint Peter's Basilica during the Easter Vigil Mass.

“If you have been indifferent, take a risk, you won’t be disappointed,” he told thousands gathered at the Vatican on March 30.

At the opening of the liturgy – which Pope Francis concelebrated with numerous cardinals – candles were lit among the faithful and passed in complete silence, illuminating the church as the Easter candle procession reached the altar.

Over 40,000 flowers and plants from Holland were used to decorate the basilica including daffodils and lilies.

Pope Francis also baptized four people during the service, including a 17-year-old U.S. Citizen of Vietnamese descent, a 30-year-old Albanian, a 30-year-old Russian and a 23-year-old Italian.

After the baptisms, a white cloth was placed over each of the four and flame from the main Easter candle was shared with smaller candles which were given to them to hold. Pope Francis then confirmed them as Catholics, making the sign of the cross on their forehead with oil and kissing them each on the cheek. The four also received their first Holy Communion during the Mass.
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[grace-land]

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/03/30/full-text-of-pope-franciss-homily-at-the-easter-vigil/

Full text of Pope Francis’s homily at the Easter Vigil
By Pope Francis on Saturday, 30 March 2013


Pope Francis processes into St Peter's Basilica this evening (AP)

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/03/31/pope:_christ_is_risen,_peace_to_this_our_earth!_/en1-678526

2013-03-31 13:26:08
Pope: Christ is Risen, Peace to this our Earth!



(Vatican Radio) “Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world”: Peace for the people of Syria, torn apart by bloodshed, for the Middle East and Iraq; Peace in Africa, for Mali, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic; Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean Peninsula .Emer McCarthy reports Listen: RealAudioMP3

In the first Urbi et Orbi message of his pontificate this Easter Sunday, Pope Francis invited people of all ages, from all walks of life to “ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace”.

Sunday morning St Peter’s Square was transformed into an open air garden by a multitude of flowers and a mercifully warm sun after a night of storms. Despite the threat of more rain, the people came in their tens of thousands filling the square and the long boulevard that leads to Bernini’s columns to take part in Pope Francis’ first celebration of Easter Mass.

The mood was of solemn participation until the end of the celebration when the Holy Father made a brief tour of the square, and the multitude exploded in a unanimous cheer. Suddenly the flags of the world were unfurled and banners from parishes and catholic associations greeting the Pope were held on high.

The tour was brief, as the Holy Father entered the basilica to make his way to the central loggia of the hall of blessings from where he delivered his first ever message as Pope to the city of Rome and to the world.
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