'I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while it was gathered in prayer.'
Pope Francis greets faithful after reading his"Urbi et Orbi" message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 21 2019.Pope Francis, in his Easter Sunday address, condemned as"such cruel violence" the bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 100 people and were timed to coincide with the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar.
Francis, speaking to a crowd of about 70,000 people in St Peter's Square, also urged politicians to shun a new arms race that was budding and to welcome refugees fleeing hunger and human rights violations. The blasts in Sri Lanka, which hospital and police officials said killed at least 138 people and wounded more than 400 people, followed a lull in major attacks since the end of the civil war 10 years ago.
"I learned with sadness and pain of the news of the grave attacks, that precisely today, Easter, brought mourning and pain to churches and other places where people were gathered in Sri Lanka," Francis said in his traditional Easter Sunday"Urbi et Orbi" message. "I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence," the pope, who visited Sri Lanka in 2015, said.
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