Urbi et Orbi
Francis focuses Easter message on hope, with prayers for an end to global conflicts
By Junno Arocho Esteves — April 9, 2023
ROME (RNS) — The proclamation that Christ is 'truly risen' is a reminder that 'our hope is not an illusion, but the truth,' the pope said.
Pope’s lament: Icy winds of war buffet humanity at Christmas
By Frances D'emilio — December 27, 2022
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.”
Amid continuing fighting in Ukraine, Pope Francis urges leaders not to give up on peace
By Claire Giangravé — April 17, 2022
(RNS) — 'Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility,' Pope Francis said in his Urbi et Orbi message.
In Easter address, Pope Francis calls for peace for pandemic-tested world
By Claire Giangravé — April 4, 2021
(RNS) — 'The risen Christ is hope for all who continue to suffer from the pandemic, both the sick and those who have lost a loved one,' Francis said.
Pope on Christmas: Vaccines for all; needy, vulnerable first
By Frances D'Emilio — December 25, 2020
(AP) — With the world suffering an ecological and economic crises on top of the pandemic, Francis said, it is all the more important for us to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters."
Pope Francis says ‘We are all in the same boat,’ during Urbi et Orbi ceremony
By Claire Giangravé — March 27, 2020
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Urbi et Orbi, meaning to the city and the world, is a blessing usually delivered by the Roman pontiff at Christmas and Easter. It offers plenary indulgence, which means the forgiveness of sins to the faithful present and watching through media outlets.
Pope Francis will offer plenary indulgence in response to coronavirus
By Claire Giangravé — March 23, 2020
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis announced on Sunday (March 22) that he will be delivering an extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing and indulgence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Hope and dignity’: Pope calls for peace in Easter message
By Yonat Shimron — April 1, 2018
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Francis reflected on the power of Christianity's core belief — that Jesus rose from the dead — in his 'Urbi et Orbi' Easter message delivered from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to a packed square of some 80,000 faithful below.
In Easter message, pope warns against the spread of conflict
By Josephine McKenna — April 16, 2017
VATICAN CITY (RNS) In his Easter Sunday blessing, Francis also urged the faithful to remember 'all those forced to leave their homelands as a result of armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, famine and oppressive regimes.'
Pope’s Christmas message urges end to war, terrorism and ‘idolatry of money’
By Josephine McKenna — December 25, 2016
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The pontiff delivered his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the City and to the World) blessing before an estimated 40,000 worshippers who gathered at the Vatican.
Pope Francis makes emotional appeal for global peace in Easter message
By Josephine McKenna — March 27, 2016
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Mercy and "weapons of love" were the only answer to “hatred and death” the pope said, reflecting on the world’s violent hotspots.
Pope at Easter prays for killed Kenyan students, decries persecution
By Reuters — April 5, 2015
(Reuters) The pope spoke as churches in Kenya, where al Shabaab gunmen massacred nearly 150 people, singling out Christians for point-blank executions, turned to armed guards to protect their congregations on Easter.
Pope Francis laments the ‘helpless cries of children’ around the world
By Josephine McKenna — December 25, 2014
VATICAN CITY (RNS) "My thoughts go out to all the children today who are killed and mistreated, be it those even before they are born who are deprived of the generous love of their parents and buried in the egoism of a culture that does not love life."
In his Easter message, Pope Francis prays for Ukraine, Syria
By Josephine McKenna — April 20, 2014
(RNS) The Urbi et Orbi (Latin for “to the city and to the world”) message, delivered from the central balcony of the basilica where Pope Francis first appeared after his election a year ago, included a call to end “deadly force” on “defenseless” civilians in Syria, and urgent humanitarian aid for victims of the conflict.
Pope Francis’ off-script Christmas nod to atheists is part of a pattern
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — December 26, 2013
Pope Francis' Christmas Day outreach to atheists was off script but not out of character for the pontiff. He often invites all to work for the common good.
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