VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged “those who have the power to unleash wars” to “choose peace” and criticized global indifference to conflicts, in his first Easter blessing.

“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people,” he told a crowd of faithful in St. Peter’s Square, also announcing a prayer vigil at the Vatican for 11 April.

In a break with a tradition observed for years by his predecessors, Leo did not directly refer to any country in his blessing but this year’s Easter celebrations are taking place in the shadow of war in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV presided over the Easter Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square with over 50,000 faithful gathered.

He explained how all creation today is “resplendent with new light” and we rejoice as “a song of praise rises from the earth... Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life!” Vatican News reports.

The Easter proclamation “embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history,” the Pope explained, and even into the depths of death when we can feel overhwelmed, opening us up to “a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away” as “death has been conquered forever” and no longer has power over us, according to Vatican News.

The United States-born pope, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, brought back memories of late pope Francis, who last appeared in public on Easter Sunday last year — a few hours before he died.

Speaking during an Easter Vigil on Saturday, the pontiff called for “a new world of peace and unity” and decried the divisions created by “war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations.”

Leo has repeatedly called for peace in the Middle East and this week directly urged US President Donald Trump to find an “off-ramp.”

On Friday, the Pope led a torch-lit procession at the Colosseum in Rome as he prepares for his first Easter.

It is the first time since 2022 that the pope has personally taken part in the Way of the Cross, which has been organised at the Colosseum since 1964.

In recent years, his predecessor Francis, who died on Easter Monday last year aged 88, had to give up attending for health reasons.

Wearing his red mozzetta and stole, Leo appeared deep in prayer during the ceremony, listening with eyes closed.

The 70-year-old pope himself carried a large wooden cross through all 14 stations retracing Jesus Christ’s path to the tomb, marking a return to a tradition observed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.