Francis urges global leaders in Easter Sunday address to work for an end to the arms race

Pope Francis condemned the attacks in Sri Lanka that killed hundreds of people as acts “of cruel violence” as he celebrated Easter mass at St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

“I learned with sadness and pain of the news of the grave attacks, that precisely today, Easter, brought mourning and pain to churches and other places where people were gathered in Sri Lanka,” the pontiff said.

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“I wish to express my heartfelt closeness to the Christian community [of Sri Lanka], wounded as it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence.”

He added that the attacks, the culprits of which have reportedly been identified as religious extremists, “have wrought grief and sorrow”.

“I entrust to the Lord all those who have tragically perished,” he said. “And I pray for the injured and all those who suffer as a result of this tragic event.”

Two of the targeted churches were Catholic and the other evangelical. The two Catholic churches, St Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade and St Sebastian’s in Negombo, both located in districts north of the capital, Colombo, are believed to have been hit by suicide bombers. Dozens of people were killed in the evangelical church in Batticaloa in the east of the country. The four hotels are in Colombo.

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In the pope’s traditional Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) address, he urged people not to be “cold and indifferent” to all those suffering due to conflict and violence around the world, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, South America and Ukraine.

He also called for renewed commitment towards reaching a political solution “to respond to peoples’ legitimate hopes for freedom peace and justice”.

“Before the many sufferings of our time, may the Lord of life not find us cold and indifferent,” Francis said. “May he make us builders of bridges, not walls. May the One who gives us his peace end the roar of arms, both in areas of conflict and in our cities, and inspire the leaders of nations to work for an end to the arms race and the troubling spread of weaponry, especially in the economically more advanced countries.”