VATICAN CITY — The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.

Like the disciples who were at first doubtful of Jesus rising from the dead, “our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war,” the pope said as he prepared April 17 to give his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).

“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,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Vatican said an estimated 55,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the first outdoor Easter Mass since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Pope Francis did not deliver a homily during the Mass; instead, a hushed silence filled the packed square for several minutes of quiet, prayerful reflection.

As Mass progressed, tens of thousands more began lining the streets outside the square. The Vatican said police estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the post-Mass blessing.

Before the blessing, the pope, standing on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressed the crowd. However, due to knee problems that have caused him difficulty walking and standing for long periods of time, the pope sat and spoke for part of his address.

In his address, the pope said the joyous announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is sorely needed “at the end of a Lent that has seemed endless.”

“We emerged from two years of pandemic, which took a heavy toll,” the pope said. “It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, pooling our strengths and resources.”

The pope said that instead of unity, the world has shown that “we still have within us the spirit of Cain, who saw Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thought about how to eliminate him.”

Only Christ, he added, who bears the wounds inflicted “upon Him by our sins, by our hardness of heart, by our fratricidal hatred” has the right “to speak to us of peace.”

“The wounds on the body of the risen Jesus are the sign of the battle He fought and won for us, won with the weapons of love, so that we might have peace and remain in peace,” the pope said.

Continuing his address, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and for its people who have been “sorely tried” by the “cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” and he urged world leaders to listen to the “people’s plea for peace.”

“May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” the pope said. “Please, let us not get used to war! Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets!”

The pope also prayed for the countless Ukrainian refugees forced to flee the horrors of war, especially children who were left orphaned.

The pope prayed for peace in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the Holy Land, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen.

Turning his attention toward Latin America, Pope Francis prayed for its people “who have seen their social conditions worsen in these difficult times of pandemic, exacerbated as well by instances of crime, violence, corruption and drug trafficking.”

He also prayed for the Indigenous people of Canada, whom he met earlier in the month to apologize for the Church’s role in running residential schools, where many children suffered abuse.

Standing up from his seat before delivering his blessing, Pope Francis said that while the world suffers the consequences of war, the resurrected Christ who conquered death “exhorts us not to surrender to evil and violence.”

“May we be won over by the peace of Christ! Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility!” the pope said.

Welcome resurrection with trust and love

JERUSALEM — The mystery of the resurrection is difficult to understand or explain and can only be welcomed into one’s heart with trust and love, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said in his Easter homily at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

“Today in Jerusalem, as in any other part of the world, the mystery par excellence, the core of our faith — that is, the resurrection — is placed before our consciousness,” he said April 17. “What have we done with this mystery? How much has the consciousness that Christ is risen and alive changed and determined our existence?”

“Let us not retreat or lock ourselves in our fears. Let us not allow death and its subjects to frighten us. That would be to deny with our lives our faith in the resurrection,” he said during the first Easter Mass following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions imposed in 2020.

Archbishop Pizzaballa told those at the Easter Mass that, through His resurrection, Jesus saved believers from “oblivion, from slavery, from exile” as well as the last enemy of death: sin.

— Judith Sudilovsky contributed to this story.