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By Adeola Adeosun
Weekend Night Editor
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Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter's Basilica Saturday night, carrying a tall lit candle through the darkened church and delivering a sweeping homily on sin, redemption, and the urgent need for peace in a world fractured by war.
A Papacy Defined Early by Its Tone
Easter is Christianity's most significant celebration, commemorating Jesus Christ's resurrection following his crucifixion. For Leo, Saturday's vigil marked a defining early moment of his papacy—one in which he used the ancient occasion to speak directly to contemporary conflicts, including the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Russia's continued war in Ukraine.
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The vigil came days after Leo's Palm Sunday remarks drew a sharp response from the White House. Speaking to tens of thousands of worshippers in St. Peter's Square, the pope condemned war as the conflict with Iran entered its second month, saying God does not listen to the prayers of those whose "hands are full of blood" and that Jesus "rejects war" and cannot be used to justify it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back Monday, defending President Donald Trump administration's use of prayer in connection with U.S. military operations. "Our nation was a nation founded 250 years ago almost on Judeo-Christian values," she said, adding that presidents and military leaders have long called on prayer during wartime and that service members "appreciate the prayers and support from the commander in chief."
Leo did not name specific political leaders in his address but has sharpened his criticism of the war in recent weeks, repeatedly calling for an immediate ceasefire and lamenting that Christians in the Middle East may not be able to fully observe Easter due to what he described as an "atrocious" conflict.
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Light in the Darkness
Leo opened the Easter vigil in darkness, intoning "The light of Christ who rises in glory" before candle bearers spread light through the basilica as the congregation looked on. According to Vatican News, he then reflected on good, evil, and rebirth— drawing on nine Scripture passages spanning from creation to the Exodus to St. Paul's reflections on the Resurrection—describing a unified thread running through salvation history: that "God responds to the hardness of sin, which divides and kills, with the power of love, which unites and restores life."
He likened sin to the stone sealing Jesus' tomb, calling it "a heavy barrier that closes us off and separates us from God." But just as that stone was found overturned on Easter morning, Leo said there are "tombs still to be opened today"—among them mistrust, fear, selfishness, and resentment, as well as the larger forces of war, injustice, and national isolation.
Quoting an ancient Easter hymn, Vatican News reports, the pope said the holiday "drives out hatred, fosters concord and brings down the mighty." He called on the faithful not to be paralyzed by the weight of these challenges, urging commitment to ensuring "the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere and always throughout the world."
During the Mass, Leo baptized 10 adults from around the world, as is tradition.
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A Holy Week of Firsts
The vigil capped an unusually demanding Holy Week for the new pontiff. On Good Friday, Leo carried the cross for all 14 Stations of the Cross—the first pope to do so in decades. On Holy Thursday, he washed the feet of 12 priests, restoring a tradition his predecessor Pope Francis had modified by including laypeople and non-Christians.
In His Own Words
On resurrection: "Humanity can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison."
On conflict: "Some [stones] weigh heavily on the human heart, such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations. Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!"
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Eyes on the Square
On Sunday morning, Leo will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter's Square before delivering his Easter "Urbi et Orbi" address —"to the city and the world"—a traditional papal message that serves as a summation of global concerns.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
Watch the Easter Vigil below:
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