Pope marks first Easter under cloud of Mideast warPope Leo has emerged as a leading voice against the warVATICAN CITY - Pope Leo XIV is set to mark Easter Sunday for the first time as pontiff, with the Middle East war casting a pall over the most important date in the Christian calendar. The ceremony will also bring back memories of late pope Francis, who last appeared in public on Easter Sunday last year -- a few hours before he died. In Jerusalem, services in the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Christians believe Christ was resurrected, are being held behind closed doors. "It is the first time in my life that I experience a total closure" of the Holy Sepulchre, Jack Straw, a 52-year-old resident of Jerusalem’s Old City, told AFP. - 'Situation is tragic' -"The doors are still closed," the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said in his Easter Vigil homily at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Source: Bangkok Post April 05, 2026 02:52 UTC