Pope Francis Calls for Solidarity in Easter Message Amid Coronavirs Lockdown

Pope Francis celebrated Easter Sunday Mass behind closed doors due to an outbreak of COVID-19 at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

In his traditional Easter address on Sunday, Pope Francis has called for solidarity across the world to confront the “epochal challenge” posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The European Union is presently facing an epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world,” said the 83-year-old pontiff

This Easter he addressed the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics from an empty Saint Paul’s Cathedral at a ceremony that was attended by just a handful of priests.

“This is not a time for indifference, because the whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic,” he said in the message, that was dedicated to the pandemic’s effects on personal and international relations.

“Indifference, self-centredness, division, and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time. We want to ban these words forever!” he said.

“In these weeks, the lives of millions of people have suddenly changed,” he said.

The pope said now was the time for politicians and governments to avoid “self-centredness” and take decisive, concerted action to help each others’ populations live through the crisis and eventually resume a normal life.

“May international sanctions be relaxed since these make it difficult for countries on which they have been imposed to provide adequate support to their citizens,” Francis said.

He urged for the relaxation of international sanctions, debt relief for poor nations without naming any countries, and ceasefires in all conflicts.