Reuters/REUTERS – Pope Francis waves as he delivers a “Urbi et Orbi” message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 5, 2015. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
By Philip Pullella | Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – (In paragraph eight, corrects number of Egyptian Copts killed to 21, not 22)
Pope Francis prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in his Easter Sunday address, commemorating the students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.
Francis, after saying Mass for thousands of people in a rainy St. Peter’s Square, delivered a mostly sombre and grim “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.
Attacks on Christians in Africa and the Middle East have been the grim backdrop of all Holy Week ceremonies leading up to Easter.
“We ask Jesus, the victor over death, to lighten the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for his name, and of all those who suffer injustice as a result of ongoing conflicts and violence – and there are many,” he said.
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 the most important day of the Christian liturgical year.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pope-easter-prays-killed-kenyan-students-decries-persecution-101836350.html