Pope Leo's Easter Peace Push

0:00Pope Leo the 14th, the first United States-born Pope, kicked off his first Easter mass with a strong push for peace. From St. Peter's Basilica, he urged folks to lay down arms, pick dialogue over domination, and let Easter's hope from Jesus' resurrection sink in. He skipped the usual erby-at-orby tradition of naming specific global crises. With the United States Israel war against Iran, dragging into its second month and Russia's push in Ukraine, still grinding on, Leo called out the world's indifference to thousands of deaths, hates fallout and wrecked economies. He echoed his predecessor, Pope Francis, who warned of a thirst for killing from that same spot last Easter, before passing the next day. Around 50,000 faithful packs St. Peter's Square, surrounded by spring flowers, soaking in his words on hope, amid war, greed and abuse. Leo revived old customs too, like greeting crowds in 10 languages including Arabic and Chinese, washing priests feet on Holy Thursday and carrying.

1:02The full way of the cross on Good Friday. Meanwhile, Christians in the Holy Land kept Easter subdued at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Due to Israeli police limits on gatherings amid missile, threats. Those curbs had Ramadan, Passover and even a Jewish blessing at the Western Wall, stirring tension with Church leaders. Leo wrapped by announcing a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 in the Basilica, calling everyone to drop desires for power and beg for calm in a war-torn world. From your city, powered by AI, this is Durham News Today. I'm Cory with the story.