Ailing Pope Francis delivers Easter Sunday message of peace, 'Why all this death?'

An ailing Pope Francis delivered a short but spirited Easter message Sunday, renewing his calls for peace in Ukraine and Israel while seeking to assuage fears about his health. 

The 87-year-old Francis skipped some of key Holy Week celebrations to rest up for Easter Mass, including the traditional Good Friday procession. He also cancelled plans to preside over the Palm Sunday Mass a week ago. 

But the pontiff did speak briefly at Saturday’s Easter Vigil, though his voice was congested and he stopped a few times to catch his breath. The pope has suffered from repeated health scares.  

There was tighter-than-usual security in St. Peter’s Square Sunday, as well as during other Holy Week events. Italy said there were at least 600 police officers -- some in plain clothes, mixed in with the crowd -- with sharpshooters positioned at key vantage points. A police helicopter also circled overhead before the mass began. 

Italy began stepping up security after the deadly March 22 attack on a Moscow theater that killed at least 140 people. The Islamic jihadist group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Francis condemned the Moscow attack as “cowardly” and on Sunday he renewed his contentious calls for a negotiated peace settlement in the two-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine. The pope also said there should be a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, and that Israeli hostages should be released and humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza. 

“Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity and a defeat!” Francis said Sunday.

In his closing Easter prayer, the pope said, “Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming. Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.”

The pontiff also prayed for peace in Syria, Lebanon, as well as in Haiti, which has dissolved into chaos after the collapse of the country’s government. 

“May the risen Lord assist the Haitian people so that there can soon be an end to the acts of violence, devastation, and bloodshed in that country,” Francis said.

The number of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square Sunday was estimated at around 60,000 despite the tight security and gray, overcast conditions. In addition to the pope, there were more than 30 cardinals, 20 bishops, and more than 300 priests on hand for the celebrations. When Francis descended from the altar, the crowd chanted “Viva il papa!” -- Italian for “Long live the pope!”

Notwithstanding the adulation expressed for the pontiff Sunday, Francis has attracted an increasing amount of controversy in recent months. 

Critics say his calls for peace in the Ukraine war – earlier in March he said Ukraine should “raise a white flag” -- undermine efforts to help that country push Russian troops out of their territory and could embolden Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 

Additionally, what are perceived as the pope’s progressive and non-traditional views toward homosexuality, women’s rights, and divorcees have caused a rift in the church, particularly in the Vatican bureaucracy and in the U.S., where conservative views on moral and theological questions hold sway. 

But the pope has not shied away from breaking with age-old rituals in the tradition-laden church. 

On Thursday, Francis washed the feet of 12 women at a prison in Rome, a ritual meant to symbolize Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet the night before He died. Before Francis, the tradition involved the pontiff washing the feet of priests or seminarians, but over the years Francis upended the tradition by washing the feet of refugees, prisoners, the disabled, and non-Christians. Thursday was the first time he washed the feet of only women.