St. John's Catholic Church

The Divine Mercy image is displayed at St. Peter's Square before Pope Francis Regina Caeli prayer on April 7, 2024. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Apr 7, 2024 / 09:10 am (CNA).

Pope Francis during the Regina Caeli on Divine Mercy Sunday noted that the “fullness of life” comes not from the pursuit of transitory pleasure but is “realized in Jesus.” 

“To have life,” the pope said, “it is enough to fix one’s eyes on the crucified and risen Jesus, encountering him in the sacraments and in prayer, recognizing that he is present, believing in him, letting oneself be touched by his grace and guided by his example, experiencing the joy of loving like him. Every living encounter with Jesus enables us to have more life.” 

Divine Mercy Sunday, instituted by St. John Paul II during the Jubilee Year of 2000, is celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter.

The pope drew upon the disciples, despondent and secluded in the upper room, who “are going through the most tragic moment in life” to showcase how Christ’s coming to them was a deeply transformative moment, one that not only reveals his mercy but also promises a new life. 

“The Risen One comes to them and shows them his wounds,” the pope said. “They were the signs of suffering and pain, they could stir feelings of guilt, yet with Jesus they become channels of mercy and forgiveness.” 

“The disciples see and touch with their hands the fact that with Jesus, life wins; death and sin are defeated. And they receive the gift of his Spirit, which gives them a new life, as beloved sons, imbued with joy, love, and hope.”

Pope Francis presented this message in contrast with today’s prevalent narratives of what constitutes a good life and the pursuit of happiness, observing that it is “a frenetic race to enjoy and possess many things.” 

Cautioning against this materialistic and myopic view, he stressed that “by following the path of pleasure and power one does not find happiness.”

“Indeed, many aspects of existence remain unanswered, such as love, the inevitable experiences of pain, of limitations, and of death. And then the dream we all have in common remains unfulfilled,” the pope continued. 

To counter this tendency the pope encouraged the faithful to ask the following questions: “Do I believe in the power of the resurrection of Jesus, in his victory over sin, fear, and death? Do I let myself be drawn into a relationship with him? And do I let myself be prompted by him to love my brothers and sisters, and to hope every day?”

At the end of the Regina Caeli, the pope reiterated his long-standing call for a “lasting peace” in “the tormented Ukraine” as well as in Palestine and Israel by imploring leaders to find a way to de-escalate tensions and to negotiate.

The pope’s plea comes six months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, which to date has left over 33,000 civilians dead in the Gaza Strip. 

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 6, 2024 / 08:57 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has transferred the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, to a different post as head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican announced on Saturday.

De Donatis, 70, has overseen the administrative needs of the Diocese of Rome as cardinal vicar since 2017. His reassignment leaves the important post of vicar general of Rome vacant until the pope appoints his successor.

The Vatican also announced on April 6 that one of Rome’s seven auxiliary bishops, Bishop Daniele Libanori, SJ, will be transferred to a new position as the Holy Father’s supervisor for Consecrated Life. The Jesuit bishop played a key role in uncovering alleged serial sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse of women religious by Jesuit mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik. Libanori reportedly learned of the women’s accusations while investigating the Loyola Community Rupnik co-founded in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Rupnik ultimately was dismissed from the Jesuit order and is currently under investigation by the Vatican.

The transfer of De Donatis is the latest move in Pope Francis’ major reform of the Diocese of Rome. The pope issued a decree last year that deeply diminished the role of the vicar of Rome and centralized the diocesan management under the formal control of the pontiff as bishop of Rome.

Apostolic Penitentiary

With his new role as major penitentiary, De Donatis will serve as the head of the Vatican tribunal in charge of cases involving excommunication and serious sins, including those whose absolution is reserved to the Holy See. For this reason, the Apostolic Penitentiary is referred to as a tribunal of mercy.

De Donatis succeeds 80-year-old Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who is retiring as major penitentiary after more than a decade in the post. 

As major penitentiary, De Donatis will have a unique privilege during a potential conclave. The head of the Apostolic Penitentiary retains his position “sede vacante” (after the pope has died or resigned) and is one of the only cardinal electors who can communicate with people outside of the conclave to fulfill his duties — a privilege only shared by the cardinal vicar of Rome and the vicar general of Vatican City State.

Historic appointment as vicar

De Donatis was born in the southeastern Italian town of Casarano in Apulia, Italy, on Jan. 4, 1954. He studied philosophy in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he received a licentiate in moral theology, before he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli in southern Italy in 1980. 

Three years later, De Donatis was incardinated in the Diocese of Rome, where over the next three decades he served as a parish priest, director of the diocesan clergy office, and spiritual director of the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary.

In 2014 Pope Francis selected De Donatis to preach the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia during their weeklong retreat in Ariccia. A year later the pope appointed and personally ordained De Donatis as an auxiliary bishop of Rome.

With his papal appointment as vicar of Rome in 2017, De Donatis became the first man in centuries to be named vicar general of Rome while not a cardinal. Pope Francis made him a cardinal the following year in the June 2018 consistory.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, De Donatis closed all of Rome’s churches to the public on March 12, 2020, before reversing the decision and opening the churches one day later at the request of Pope Francis.

One year later, Pope Francis ordered an audit of the Diocese of Rome in June 2021 in which the auditor general of the Holy See sifted through the accounting books, registers, and cooperative societies.

De Donatis and the leadership of the Diocese of Rome also faced widespread backlash after issuing a letter in September 2023 praising the art and theology center founded by Father Marko Rupnik, the former Jesuit priest and artist accused of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of religious sisters.

The Vatican announcement of De Donatis’ transfer came one day after Pope Francis visited a parish in Rome’s 11th prefecture for a closed-door conversation with Roman priests about pastoral issues facing the diocese. Vatican News described the meeting as part of Pope Francis’ “periodic visits to his diocese.”

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the auxiliary bishop appointed as supervisor of Consecrated Life. It is Bishop Daniele Libanori, SJ.

Pope Francis blesses a baby at his Wednesday general audience on March 20, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 3, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

In a new book interview with Pope Francis, the Holy Father recalled that Benedict XVI defended him when he was accused of promoting “homosexual marriage.”

In the Spanish-language book “The Successor: My Memories of Benedict XVI,” Pope Francis relates that on one occasion he had “a very beautiful visit with him [Benedict XVI] when some cardinals came to see him, surprised by my words about marriage, and he was very clear with them.”

“One day they showed up at his house to practically put me on trial and accused me before him that I promoted homosexual marriage. Benedict didn’t get agitated, because he knew perfectly well what I think. He listened to them all, one by one, calmed them down and explained everything to them,” Pope Francis recounted.

The Holy Father explained that this happened when he mentioned that “since marriage is a sacrament, it cannot be administered to homosexual couples, but that, in some way, a guarantee or civil protection had to be given to the situation these people are in. I said that in France there is the formula of ‘civil unions,’ which, at first glance, may be a good option, since it is not limited to marriage.”

Pope Francis recalled that he gave as an example the case of “three elderly retired women who need to share health services, inheritance, housing, etc. I wanted to say that it seemed like an interesting formula to me.”

The Holy Father related that after these words “some went to tell Benedict that I was saying heresies and what do I know. He listened to them and with great high-mindedness, helped them distinguish things... he told them: ‘This is not a heresy.’ How he defended me!... He always defended me.”

What did Pope Francis say about marriage in 2021?

On Sept. 15, 2021, during the press conference on the flight back to Rome from Hungary and Slovakia, the Holy Father was asked about the European Parliament resolution asking member countries to recognize same-sex marriage.

“I have spoken clearly about this: Marriage is a sacrament. Marriage is a sacrament and the Church does not have the power to change the sacraments, as the Lord has instituted it,” Pope Francis replied.

“These are laws that try to help the situation of many people with different sexual orientations, and it is important that these people be helped but without imposing things that, by their nature, are not appropriate in the Church,” he added.

“But if they want to lead a life together as a homosexual couple, the states have the possibility of supporting them civilly, of giving them inheritance and health security. The French have a law on this matter not only for homosexuals but for all people who must associate,” the pontiff added.

Benedict XVI and homosexual unions

In June 2003, when he was prefect of the Congregation — today the Dicastery — for the Doctrine of the Faith, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, published the document “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons.”

In its conclusion, the text states: “The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”

“Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself,” the document explains.

As pope, Benedict XVI defended on more than one occasion the importance of the family based on marriage between a man and a woman.

In a January 2007 address to the Roman Rota, Benedict XVI said: “Every marriage is, of course, the result of the free consent of the man and the woman, but in practice, their freedom expresses the natural capacity inherent in their masculinity and femininity.”

“The union takes place by virtue of the very plan of God who created them male and female and gives them the power to unite for ever those natural and complementary dimensions of their persons,” the pontiff explained.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis holds a rosary and New Testament that belonged to a slain 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier as he appeals for peace during his general audience on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Apr 3, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis held in his hands a rosary and New Testament that belonged to a slain 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier as he appealed for peace during his general audience on Wednesday.

Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on April 3, the pope revealed that the rosary belonged to a boy named Oleksandre, who was killed in Avdiïvka in eastern Ukraine.

He said that Oleksandre had also carried a small book containing the New Testament and the Psalms with him to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.

“In the book of Psalms, he had underlined Psalm 130, ‘Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice,’” Pope Francis said.

“This 23-year-old boy died in the war in Avdiïvka. He had his life ahead of him,” the pope remarked.

“I would like for all of us to take a moment of silence, thinking about this boy and many others like him who died in this folly of war,” he said. “Let us think of them and let us pray.”

The pope had been given the rosary in March by Sister Lucia Caram, an Argentine Dominican sister who lives in Spain and has traveled to Ukraine on humanitarian missions, during a private papal audience with journalists from the Spanish-language news portal Religión Digital.

“I gave him the rosary that Oleksandre was wearing when he died. It was a rosary blessed by the pope,” Caram wrote in an Instagram post about the meeting on March 13.

“Francis kissed the rosary and was touched. … He encouraged me to continue. He gave me more rosaries to take to Ukraine,” she added.

The pope held up the rosary at the end of his general audience after having made an emotional appeal for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, deploring the recent killing of seven humanitarian workers from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip.

“Let us work so that this and other wars that continue to bring death and suffering to so many parts of the world may end as soon as possible,” Pope Francis said.

“Let us pray and work tirelessly for weapons to be silenced and for peace to reign once again.”

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square gathered for his weekly general audience on April 3, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 3, 2024 / 09:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis during his general audience on Wednesday deplored the recent killing of humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip, with the Holy Father renewing his appeal for an immediate cease-fire amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. 

The pope buttressed his plea with a catechesis focused on the virtue of justice, noting that it is the building block for a well-ordered society premised upon the rule of law. 

“I express deep regret for the volunteers killed while distributing food aid in Gaza,” the pope said to the 25,000 gathered in St. Peter’s Square on an overcast Wednesday morning. 

Seven volunteers from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday while traveling in a “deconflicted zone” after delivering 100 tons of food aid to a town in central Gaza. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident “tragic,” suggesting that the Israel Defense Forces “unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip.” 

Pope Francis on Wednesday reiterated his regular call for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip so that the “exhausted and suffering civilian population be allowed access to humanitarian aid.” The civilian death toll continues to mount in the beleaguered zone with reportedly nearly 33,000 deaths.

The pope also turned his attention to the ongoing war in “tormented” Ukraine. At one point Francis set down the text of his address to hold up a rosary and a copy of the New Testament that belonged to a slain 23-year-old Ukranian soldier named Oleksandre.

“This 23-year-old boy died in Avdiïvka, in the war. He left a life ahead of him,” the pope said. “I would like to have a little silence at this moment, everyone, thinking of this boy and of many others like him who died in this madness of war. War always destroys! Let us think of them and pray.”

Against the backdrop of these parallel conflicts, the pope framed his reflection on the virtue of justice, observing that it forms the basis of a well-ordered civil society that is built upon the rule of law — a principle of governance premised on the impartial application of legal norms for all citizens, institutions, and leaders. 

“Without justice, there is no peace,” Pope Francis said. “Indeed, if justice is not respected, conflicts arise. Without justice, the law of the prevalence of the strong over the weak is entrenched.” 

The pope stressed that justice is as a critical underpinning for the common good and the management of civil society, noting: “It is the virtue of law that seeks to regulate the relations between people equitably.” 

“A world without laws,” without justice  — and the corollary virtues of “benevolence, respect, gratitude, affability, and honesty” — would “be a world in which it is impossible to live,” the pope said.

“The righteous person reveres laws and respects them, knowing that they constitute a barrier protecting the defenseless from the tyranny of the powerful,” the pope expressed. “The righteous person does not think only of his own individual well-being but desires the good of society as a whole.” 

The pope defined the characteristics of the “righteous person” in part as one who “desires an orderly society.”

“He desires an orderly society, where people give luster to the office they hold, and not the other way around. He abhors recommendations and does not trade favors. He loves responsibility and is exemplary in promoting legality,” the pope continued. 

The pope stressed the importance of imparting the virtue of justice into young people so as to build a “culture of legality.”

“It is the way to prevent the cancer of corruption and to eliminate criminality, removing the ground from beneath it.”

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, pictured here in 2014, took up his new post as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s top doctrinal office next week will unveil a new declaration on the theme of human dignity, one that is expected to address a range of contemporary moral issues including gender ideology and surrogacy.  

The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that the new document, titled Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”) (On Human Dignity), will be debuted at a press conference held in Rome on April 8.

The conference will include presentations by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF); Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary for the doctrinal section of the DDF; and Professor Paola Scarcella of Rome’s Tor Vergata and LUMSA universities. 

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in early March, Fernández said there had been “several versions” of the text and that it was “almost finished” and would be published in “early April.” 

The cardinal’s comments came after he told Spanish news agency EFE in January that the text would address “not only social issues but also a strong criticism of moral questions such as sex-change surgery, surrogacy, and gender ideology.”

In recent months and years Pope Francis has spoken out strongly on these topics. In a January address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the pope called surrogacy “deplorable.”

In March, meanwhile, the Holy Father labeled transgender ideology as “the ugliest danger” today, one that “seeks to blur differences between men and women.” 

Since assuming the top spot at the DDF last September, Fernández has faced backlash over the December DDF document Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed for the “spontaneous” (nonliturgical) blessing of same-sex couples as well as those in “irregular” unions. 

The Argentine cardinal in his interview with EFE argued that “people who are concerned” about his work will “be put at ease” by the new document.  

Since the publication of Fiducia Supplicans, Pope Francis has publicly defended the directive on numerous occasions. In February he argued that individuals who are critical of blessings for homosexuals are guilty of “hypocrisy” if they are not similarly opposed to blessings for certain other types of sinners. 

Some of the strongest pushback against Fiducia Supplicans has come from the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) as well as from other Christian leaders with which the Church holds ecumenical dialogue. 

Pope Francis greets a woman religious at a Mass on the World Day of Consecrated Life, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, on Feb. 2, 2024, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 2, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of April is that the dignity and worth of women be recognized throughout the world. 

“In many parts of the world, women are treated like the first thing to get rid of,” Pope Francis said in a video released April 2. 

“There are countries where women are forbidden to access aid, open a business, or go to school,” he said, adding: “In these places, they are subject to laws that make them dress a certain way. And in many countries, genital mutilation is still practiced.”

He urged the world to “not deprive women of their voice. Let us not rob all these abused women of their voice. They are exploited, marginalized.”

The Holy Father pointed out that “in theory, we all agree that men and women have the same dignity as persons. But this does not play out in practice.”

“Governments need to commit to eliminate discriminatory laws everywhere and to work toward guaranteeing women’s human rights,” Francis said.

“Let us respect women. Let us respect their dignity, their basic rights. And if we don’t, our society will not progress.”

He concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the dignity and worth of women be recognized in every culture, and for an end to the discrimination they face in various parts of the world.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger celebrates the special "pro eligendo summo pontifice" (to elect Supreme Pontiff) Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City on April 18, 2005. / Credit: MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Apr 1, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis said he was “used” in the 2005 conclave in an effort to block the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, though he supported the candidacy of the man who soon became Pope Benedict XVI. 

“He was my candidate,” Francis said of his predecessor in excerpts from the forthcoming book “The Successor,” published by the Spanish newspaper ABC on Easter Sunday.  

In the book, Pope Francis told Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal that his name, then-Cardinal Jose Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, was put forward as part of a “complete maneuver” by an unnamed group of cardinals to manipulate the conclave’s outcome. 

“The idea was to block the election of [Ratzinger],” he explained. “They were using me, but behind them they were already thinking about proposing another cardinal. They still couldn’t agree on who, but they were already on the verge of throwing out a name.” 

Francis said that at one point of the conclave, which began on April 18, 2005, he was receiving 40 of the 115 total votes. If cardinals continued to support him, Ratzinger would not have reached the necessary two-thirds threshold to be elected, likely prompting a search for an alternative candidate. 

Francis said that he realized the “operation” was afoot on the second day of voting and told the Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillón to not “joke with my candidacy” and cease supporting him, “because I’m not going to accept” being elected. 

Austen Ivereigh, the pope’s English-speaking biographer, has previously written that Bergoglio, “almost in tears,” had begged not to be elected. 

Ratzinger, who had been the longtime prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II, was elected that same day. 

Pope Francis did not say who this group of conclave manipulators consisted of nor who they planned to introduce as a third candidate, but the Argentinian prelate said that the group of cardinals “did not want a ‘foreign’ pope.” 

Several accounts from the time have claimed that a group of liberal European cardinals, known as the Saint Gallen Group, attempted to manipulate the outcome of the 2005 conclave. Three members of the group, German Cardinals Walter Kasper and Karl Lehmann and Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, also participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Francis. According to Ivereigh, they advocated for Bergoglio after first securing his assent, a claim the cardinals have denied. 

According to Universi Dominici Gregis, an apostolic constitution governing papal conclaves, cardinal electors must refrain from “any form of pact, agreement, promise, or other commitment of any kind which could oblige them to give or deny their vote to a person or persons” under threat of automatic excommunication. 

Conclave proceedings are, by definition, secretive, as the term is derived from a Latin word that means a “locked room.” But in “The Successor,” Francis said that while cardinals are sworn to secrecy regarding conclave proceedings, “the popes have license to tell it.” 

Pope Francis also revealed that while others were putting his name forward in the hopes of forcing a stalemate, he believed Ratzinger “was the only one at that time [who] could be pope.” 

“After the revolution of John Paul II, who had been a dynamic pontiff, very active, with initiative who traveled … there was a need for a pope who maintained a healthy balance, a transitional pope,” the Holy Father said of his predecessor, who served from 2005 to 2013. 

Francis also said that he left Rome happy that Ratzinger had been elected and not himself. 

“If they had chosen someone like me, who makes a lot of trouble, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything,” he said. “At that time, it would not have been possible.” 

Nonetheless, Pope Francis added that the papacy “wasn’t easy” for Benedict XVI, who “encountered a lot of resistance within the Vatican.” 

Pope Francis was also asked what the Holy Spirit was saying to the Church through the election of Benedict XVI. 

“’I am in charge here,’” Francis said of the Spirit’s response. “’There is no room for maneuver.’” 

“The Successor” is part of a flurry of Francis-focused books being released in the 87-year-old Jesuit’s 11th year as pontiff, which also includes “Life: My Story Through History,” the pope’s first autobiography. 

The new book, which focuses on the relationship between Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, is set to be published in Spanish on Wednesday, April 3, with no details yet available on an English edition. 

Pope Francis delivers the Regina Caeli address on Monday, Apr. 1, 2024 / Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Apr 1, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said on Easter Monday that the resurrection of Jesus is not just a “happy ending” but is an event that “changes our lives completely and forever.”

“Jesus broke through the darkness of the tomb and lives forever. … With him, every day becomes a step in an eternal journey, every today can hope for a tomorrow, every end a new beginning, every instant is projected beyond the limits of time, toward eternity,” the pope said on April 1.

“Brothers, sisters, the joy of the Resurrection is not something far away. It is very close; it is ours because it was given to us on the day of our baptism.”

Pope Francis addressed a crowd of people in St. Peter’s Square from a window of the Apostolic Palace for Easter Monday, also known as Monday of the Angel.

Following his brief message, he recited the Regina Caeli, a Latin antiphon honoring the Virgin Mary that is prayed during the Easter season. From Easter Sunday to Pentecost, Pope Francis will pray the Regina Caeli instead of the Angelus on Sundays.

In his address, the pope offered advice for how to “fuel the joy” of Christ’s resurrection during the Easter season, which in the Catholic Church lasts for a total of 50 days, from Easter Sunday until the feast of Pentecost.

Pope Francis said that the joy of Easter can be nurtured by “encountering the Risen One” in the Eucharist, in the confessional, in prayer, and in charity.

“He is the source of a joy that never ceases. So, let us hasten to seek him,” the pope said.

“Joy, when it is shared, grows. Let us share the joy of the Risen One,” he added.

The pope pointed to how in the Church’s readings for the Monday of the Easter Octave, the Gospel of Matthew describes the joy of the women at the resurrection of Jesus.

“The text says they abandoned the tomb with ‘great joy’ and ran to tell his disciples” (Mt 28:8). This joy, which is born precisely from the living encounter with the Risen One, is a powerful emotion, which impels them to spread and to tell what they have seen,” he said.

“Sharing joy is a wondrous experience, which we learn from a very young age: Think of a child who gets a good mark at school and cannot wait to show his or her parents, or a young person who achieves their first success in sport, or a family in which a child is born. Let us try to remember, each of us, a moment so happy that it was even difficult to put it into words, but which we wished to tell everyone about immediately.”

“And May the Virgin Mary, who at Easter rejoiced in her risen Son, help us to be joyful witnesses,” he added.

After the Regina Caeli, the pope wished everyone a happy Monday of the Angel and a happy Octave of Easter. 

“May the joy of Easter continue!” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis gives his urbi et orbi Easter blessing from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 31, 2024. / Credit: Pablo Esparza/CNA

Vatican City, Mar 31, 2024 / 09:15 am (CNA).

On the morning of Easter Sunday 2024, Pope Francis presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his urbi et orbi message and blessing from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica in the presence of an estimated 60,000 people.

“Urbi et orbi” means “To the city [of Rome] and to the world.” It is a special apostolic blessing given by the pope every year on Easter Sunday, Christmas, and other special occasions.

Here is the full text of the pope’s blessing:

Dear brothers and sisters: Happy Easter!

Today throughout the world there resounds the message proclaimed 2,000 years ago from Jerusalem: “Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has been raised!” (Mk 16:6).

The Church relives the amazement of the women who went to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week. The tomb of Jesus had been sealed with a great stone. Today too, great stones, heavy stones, block the hopes of humanity: the stone of war, the stone of humanitarian crises, the stone of human rights violations, the stone of human trafficking, and other stones as well. Like the women disciples of Jesus, we ask one another: “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” (cf. Mk 16:3).

This is the amazing discovery of that Easter morning: The stone, the immense stone, was rolled away. The astonishment of the women is our astonishment as well: The tomb of Jesus is open, and it is empty! From this, everything begins anew! A new path leads through that empty tomb: The path that none of us, but God alone, could open: the path of life in the midst of death, the path of peace in the midst of war, the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred, the path of fraternity in the midst of hostility.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is risen! He alone has the power to roll away the stones that block the path to life. He, the living One, is himself that path. He is the Way: the way that leads to life, the way of peace, reconciliation, and fraternity. He opens that path, humanly impossible, because he alone takes away the sin of the world and forgives us our sins. For without God’s forgiveness, that stone cannot be removed. Without the forgiveness of sins, there is no overcoming the barriers of prejudice, mutual recrimination, the presumption that we are always right and others wrong. Only the risen Christ, by granting us the forgiveness of our sins, opens the way for a renewed world.

Jesus alone opens up before us the doors of life, those doors that continually we shut with the wars spreading throughout the world. Today we want, first and foremost, to turn our eyes to the holy city of Jerusalem, that witnessed the mystery of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and to all the Christian communities of the Holy Land.

My thoughts go especially to the victims of the many conflicts worldwide, beginning with those in Israel and Palestine, and in Ukraine. May the risen Christ open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions. In calling for respect for the principles of international law, I express my hope for a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine: all for the sake of all!

I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza, and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on 7 October last and for an immediate cease-fire in the Strip.

Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance, and above all on the children. How much suffering we see in the eyes of the children: The children in those lands at war have forgotten how to smile! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity, war is always a defeat! Let us not allow the strengthening winds of war to blow on Europe and the Mediterranean. Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming. Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.

Brothers and sisters, let us not forget Syria, which for 13 years has suffered from the effects of a long and devastating war. So many deaths and disappearances, so much poverty and destruction call for a response on the part of everyone, and of the international community.

My thoughts turn today in a special way to Lebanon, which has for some time experienced institutional impasse and a deepening economic and social crisis, now aggravated by the hostilities on its border with Israel. May the risen Lord console the beloved Lebanese people and sustain the entire country in its vocation to be a land of encounter, coexistence, and pluralism.

I also think in particular of the region of the Western Balkans, where significant steps are being taken toward integration in the European project. May ethnic, cultural, and confessional differences not be a cause of division but rather a source of enrichment for all of Europe and for the world as a whole.

I likewise encourage the discussions taking place between Armenia and Azerbaijan, so that, with the support of the international community, they can pursue dialogue, assist the displaced, respect the places of worship of the various religious confessions, and arrive as soon as possible at a definitive peace agreement.

May the risen Christ open a path of hope to all those who in other parts of the world are suffering from violence, conflict, food insecurity, and the effects of climate change. May the Lord grant consolation to the victims of terrorism in all its forms. Let us pray for all those who have lost their lives and implore the repentance and conversion of the perpetrators of those crimes.

May the risen Lord assist the Haitian people, so that there can soon be an end to the acts of violence, devastation, and bloodshed in that country, and that it can advance on the path to democracy and fraternity.

May Christ grant consolation and strength to the Rohingya, beset by a grave humanitarian crisis, and open a path to reconciliation in Myanmar, torn for years now by internal conflicts, so that every logic of violence may be definitively abandoned.

May the Lord open paths of peace on the African continent, especially for the suffering peoples in Sudan and in the entire region of the Sahel, in the Horn of Africa, in the region of Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the province of Capo Delgado in Mozambique, and bring an end to the prolonged situation of drought, which affects vast areas and provokes famine and hunger.

May the Risen One make the light of his face shine upon migrants and on all those who are passing through a period of economic difficulty, and offer them consolation and hope in their moment of need. May Christ guide all persons of goodwill to unite themselves in solidarity, in order to address together the many challenges that loom over the poorest families in their search for a better life and happiness.

On this day when we celebrate the life given us in the resurrection of the Son, let us remember the infinite love of God for each of us: a love that overcomes every limit and every weakness. And yet how much the precious gift of life is despised! How many children cannot even be born? How many die of hunger and are deprived of essential care or are victims of abuse and violence? How many lives are made objects of trafficking for the increasing commerce in human beings?

Brothers and sisters, on the day when Christ has set us free from the slavery of death, I appeal to all who have political responsibilities to spare no efforts in combatting the scourge of human trafficking, by working tirelessly to dismantle the networks of exploitation, and to bring freedom to those who are their victims. May the Lord comfort their families, above all those who anxiously await news of their loved ones, and ensure them comfort and hope.

May the light of the Resurrection illuminate our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected, and loved.

A happy Easter to all!