Pope Leo has dedicated Easter Sunday to urging world leaders to choose peace.
On Sunday afternoon local time, the head of the Catholic Church spoke from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to hundreds of attendees, writes Reuters.
- Let those who have weapons, lay them down!
- Let those who have the power to start wars, choose peace, the pope said.
The speech, entitled "urbi et orbi" - in Danish: to the city and to the world - followed the traditional Easter Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
It was Pope Leo's debut as leader of the Easter Mass, which marks the greatest feast of the Christian Church, and it was his first "urbi et orbi" speech.
Pope Leo was thus installed in office last May.
Despite the clear message, the Pope did not mention any names or specific conflicts or wars in the speech, which was unusually short and direct.
According to Pope Leo, the world has become so accustomed to war that an indifference towards violence and killing has arisen among people.
- We get used to violence, accept it and become indifferent. Indifferent to the death of thousands of people, the Pope said.
He pointed out that the Easter story, in which Jesus, according to the Bible, rose from the dead on Easter morning, two days after being crucified without resistance, shows that Jesus was "totally non-violent".
- On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, dominance and power and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars, the head of the Catholic Church said.
This is not the first time that the Pope has criticized ongoing conflicts and called for peace. He has done so several times in recent weeks - including during his homily from Peter's Square on Palm Sunday.
- Jesus does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: Although you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood, Pope Leo admonished a week ago.
In addition to giving a speech, Pope Leo sent Easter greetings in ten languages - including Latin, Arabic and Chinese - from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday afternoon.
