On Easter, Pope Leo urges world leaders to end wars, renounce conquest

## Summary
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the main balcony of St Peter's basilica for the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on Apr 5, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli) 05 Apr 2026 05:58PM (Updated: 05 Apr 2026 07:07PM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday (Apr 5) to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination. The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war , lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St Peter's Square that people "are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent". "Let those who have weapons lay them down!" the first US pope exhorted. "Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!" Pope Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing. Peter's Basilica on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, on Apr 5, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Matteo Minnella) Pope Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world's violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war.

## Article Content
Advertisement
World
On Easter, Pope Leo urges world leaders to end wars, renounce conquest
Pope Leo lamented in his Easter message that people "are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent".
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the main balcony of St Peter's basilica for the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on Apr 5, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)
05 Apr 2026 05:58PM
(Updated: 05 Apr 2026 07:07PM)
Bookmark
Bookmark
Share
WhatsApp
Telegram
Facebook
Twitter
Email
LinkedIn
Set CNA as your preferred source on Google
Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday (Apr 5) to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the
Iran war
, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St Peter's Square that people "are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent".
"Let those who have weapons lay them down!" the first US pope exhorted. "Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!"
Pope Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing. It was unusually brief and direct.
The pope said that the story of Easter, when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead three days after not resisting his execution by crucifixion, shows that Christ was "entirely nonviolent".
"On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars," Pope Leo urged.
Pope Leo XIV delivers his Urbi et Orbi (To the city and the world) message from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, on Apr 5, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Matteo Minnella)
Pope Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world's violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war.
In a sermon for the Easter vigil on Saturday night, he urged people
not to feel numbed
by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work for peace.
The pope made a rare direct appeal to US President Donald Trump on ⁠Tuesday, urging him to find an "off-ramp" to end the Iran war.
In his address from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica on Sunday to the Square below, decorated with thousands of brightly coloured flowers for the holiday, Leo offered brief Easter greetings in ten languages, including Latin, Arabic and Chinese.
The pope also announced he would return to the Basilica on Apr 11 to host a prayer vigil for peace.
Also read:
Pope Leo urges world not to grow numb to war at Easter vigil
Pope Leo calls war in Middle East a 'scandal' to humanity
Source: Reuters/co
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Subscribe here
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Download here
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Join here
Related Topics
Pope
War on Iran
United States
Easter
Advertisement
Also worth reading
Content is loading...
Advertisement
Expand to read the full story
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Peter's Basilica on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, on Apr 5, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Matteo Minnella) Pope Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world's violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war.

### Implications
N/A

### Expert Commentary
This article covers pope, leo, world topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 665.