Daniele Frison

In today’s general audience in St Peter's Square, the pontiff kicked off a new round of reflections, this time on the action of the Holy Spirit in the history of salvation. “The Spirit is harmony," Francis explained. He also talked about the "havoc" humanity is visiting upon Creation, as well as how to undertake the "way of contemplation" like Francis of Assisi. The Holy Father spoke about the victims of a landslide in Papua New Guinea. Turning to Ukraine, Palestine, and Myanmar, he said “War is always cruel.”

Tens of thousands attended Mass today in St Peter's Square. "The Holy Spirit accompanies us in life" the Holy Father had the children repeated, followed by a Hail Mary and the invitation to pray "above all for peace". Yesterday at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, the pontiff appealed for a “movement of girls and boys who want to build a world of peace”.

The pontiff issues a new appeal for peace from St Peter's, asking the world not to forget “martyred Ukraine", Israel, Palestine, and Myanmar, at “this time of world war". In his catechesis, he praised humility, his last reflection in the cycle dedicated to vices and virtues. Greeting a group of novices, he mentioned the shortage of vocations to consecrated life in Italy, inviting them to pray.

The new facility, which is expected to be completed in 2026, will house about 120,000 literary artifacts, with a focus on past and future, a place symbolising the “hallyu”, the South Korean cultural wave that has made Korean literature, along with K-pop music and K-dramas, known the world over.

During the Mass in St. Peter's, the pontiff spoke of the Holy Spirit's characteristics of ‘strength’ and ‘kindness’. The invitation ‘to proclaim the Gospel to all’. ‘Let us continue to speak of peace to those who want war, to speak of forgiveness to those who sow revenge,’ he added. After the recitation of the Regina Caeli: may the Holy Spirit ‘give rulers the courage to make gestures of dialogue’.

Francis pleads for peace again during this Wednesday general audience. Calling for a “definitive peace”, he slammed war, which “is always a defeat. Always.” He also mentioned "tormented Ukraine", Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and “all peoples who suffer war". Charity is the focus of his weekly catechesis, “for those who are not lovable, [. . .] even for one’s enemy.”

Countries bent by war and violence remembered: Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Myanmar again recalled at the Wednesday audience. May the intercession of St Stanislaus 'obtain also today the gift of peace in Europe and throughout the world'. The theological virtue of hope, accompanied by patience, belongs to those who "stubbornly desire peace".

From the Vatican new call for peace in the Middle East. But also a thought for the ‘tormented Ukraine’ that ‘suffers so much’. Best wishes to the brothers and sisters of the Orthodox Churches for Easter celebrated today, according to the Julian calendar. ‘May the Risen Lord comfort the communities that are in trial’.

There are 9 million uninhabited houses, almost 14% of the country's residential building stock. A phenomenon destined to increase as the population ages. It is affected by people moving from the outlying prefectures to Tokyo, but also by the elderly dying or going into nursing homes. Buildings are not maintained, exposed to collapse and arson.

The Indian activist, 43, started a movement that saved 445,000 acres of forests in Chhattisgarh from the establishment of 21 coal mines. Awarded the 'Green Nobel Prize' for two decades of commitment to biodiversity and the cultural identity of the Adivasi people. A battle that has become 'a model of environmental justice ninth only in India'.

During the historic visit to the city on the lagoon, the pontiff met with 80 inmates at the Giudecca Women's Prison, “a harsh reality, but a place of moral and material rebirth.” At the Holy See's pavillion for the 2024 Biennale “With My Eyes”, Francis addressed the artists, stressing the “contribution of women”. He also said: “There is joy and suffering that come together in a unique form in women.”

At his Wednesday audience, Francis repeated that "War is always a defeat." Through the intercession of John Paul II 10 years after his canonisation, the pontiff called for "the gift of peace" in Ukraine and Myanmar too. In the catechesis on the life of grace according to the Spirit, he stressed that the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are an "antidote to self-sufficiency".