Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo said: “Let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil.”
“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,” the pontiff said.
Thousands gathered in the square to hear Leo’s message, with one group holding up a poster in Italian: “Pope Leo we are with you, guide our future.”
In his message, Leo echoed the late Pope Francis’ phrase about the “globalization of indifference,” acknowledging that people are “growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it and becoming indifferent.”
People attend the Easter Mass led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Sunday morning.Pope Leo XIV arrives to preside over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Sunday.
The pontiff said the power of Easter – when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – is “entirely nonviolent.”
Leo also used his Easter Sunday message to announce a special prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica, on Saturday, April 11. The late Pope Francis organized a similar vigil in 2013 for Syria – to rally against the civil war and reject military intervention – which was attended by around 100,000 people.
After delivering his message, Leo wished people a happy Easter in 10 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Latin. He then said the Regina Coeli prayer and gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, meaning “To the City and to the World.”
Leo XIV’s first Holy Week and Easter takes place against the backdrop of war and has seen him express hope that US President Donald Trump can find an “off-ramp” to end the conflict in the Middle East.
Pope Leo XIV presides over the solemn liturgy of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday in St. Peter's Basilica on April 03, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican.
The Church celebrates the Solemn Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord, consisting of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, culminating in the chanting of the Passion according to St. John; the Adoration of the Cross; and reception of Holy Communion.
Not in God’s name: How Pope Leo is pushing back on divine justification of war
On Good Friday, the first US-born pontiff carried the cross for the entirety of the “Way of the Cross” service in Rome’s Colosseum, where worshipers heard prayers for deported immigrant children, along with a warning to world leaders that their actions will be judged.
This Sunday, thousands gathered for the Easter Mass and message in a sunny St. Peter’s Square, which, per tradition, has been decked out with flowers and bulbs for the celebrations.
Earlier in the day, in his Easter homily, Pope Leo focused on retaining hope amid the violence of war, climate change and other suffering.
The pontiff said the message of Easter responds to “the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”
“Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty.
But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit,” the pontiff said in his homily. “Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day.”
Dame Sarah Mullally prayed "with renewed urgency" for peace before a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its sixth week.
She called for all people of the Middle East and the Gulf to "receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for".
Her Easter sermon comes just shy of a fortnight after her installation as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, during which she said her teenage self could "never have imagined the future that lay ahead".
She told the congregation on Sunday: "This week our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.
"Today, as we shout with joy that Christ is risen, let us pray and call with renewed urgency for an end to the violence and destruction in the Middle East and the Gulf.
"May our Christian sisters and brothers know and celebrate the hope of the empty tomb - and may all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for."
Thousands of people are reported to have been killed in the ongoing conflict that began on 28 February with widespread US and Israeli strikes on Iran, to which Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.
Israel has also since launched broad strikes across Lebanon after the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the war.
Preaching on St John's Gospel, the archbishop told the congregation that Jesus Christ's resurrection began while Mary waited at his tomb in grief.She also prayed for people dealing with personal struggles and their "own version of the dark", such as illness or bereavement.
"I pray you know that God walks with you through that darkness," she said.
Previously the chief nursing officer for England, Dame Sarah paid tribute to those caring for others - such as loved ones and carers in hospitals or hospices."This vigil of care is the work of remaining - of staying present in the quiet and the dark."
During her installation as archbishop in late March, Dame Sarah similarly prayed for peace and justice to prevail in "all war-torn areas of the world".
She told the congregation of some 2,000 guests, including the Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, that the conflict in the Middle East had prevented some members of the Church from being able to attend the service.
It marked the symbolic beginning of her ministry as archbishop, a role to which she was appointed after her predecessor Justin Welby resigned in 2024 after criticism of his handling of a serious abuse case.
Dame Sarah will lead a global Church navigating deepening divisions over issues such as sexuality and female leadership, with some traditionalists in the church and the wider global Anglican Communion still opposed to the idea of women being priests at all.
Meanwhile, delivering his first Easter sermon since becoming Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Richard Moth said: "In our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions.
"Humanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice, often instigated by greed and misguided power, bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable."
And in his first Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing, Pope Leo has urged those who have the power to unleash wars to choose peace.
He told tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at St Peter's Square in the Vatican that humanity cannot be indifferent to wars and thousands of deaths.