Pope calls for denouncing blind terrorism in Easter address
28 March 2016 9:04 AM IST28 March 2016 9:04 AM IST
In his balcony speech, Francis said \"Easter invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future.\"
Pope Francis on Sunday spoke out against the \"rejection\" of refugees as the European migrant crisis saw its latest desperate scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia.- He condemned \"terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world, as in the recent attacks in Belgium, Turkey, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast\".
- During remarks Friday at the Colosseum capping the '\"Way of the Cross'' procession re-enacting Jesus' crucifixion, Francis denounced the ''terrorist acts committed by followers of some religions which profane the name of God and which use the holy name to justify their unprecedented violence.''
- Tens of thousands of people patiently endured long lines, backpack inspections and metal-detecting checks to enter St. Peter's Square.
- Pope Francis asperges incense in front of an icon of Jesus as he celebrates the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square.
- In his balcony speech, Francis said Easter \"invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees including many children fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice.
- \"We see and will continue to see problems both inside and out. They will always be there,'' he said.
- Francis entered the silent and darkened basilica with just a single candle guiding him at the start of the vigil. As he reached the altar, the basilica's floodlights flipped on in a symbolic show of light after the darkness of Good Friday, which recalls Jesus' death.
- During Good Friday prayers, the pope decried what he called Europe's \"indifferent and anaesthetised conscience\" over migrants and on Sunday he took up the theme again.
- The pontiff used his Easter address to urge people to offer \"welcome and assistance\" to those fleeing war and poverty, as Europe struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II.
Pope Francis on Sunday spoke out against the \"rejection\" of refugees as the European migrant crisis saw its latest desperate scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia.
In his balcony speech, Francis said -"Easter invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future.-"
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