Pope refers to 'Easter of war'

Pope Francis has urged leaders to hear the people's plea for peace in Ukraine and criticised Russia for dragging the country into a "cruel and senseless" conflict.

Speaking during his Easter Sunday Mass to some 50,000 people in St Peter's Square, he said: "Our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war. We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence.

Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing."

Ukraine was "sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged", he added at his first Easter Mass since 2019 that the public was allowed to attend following two years of Covid restrictions.