Holy Father at Easter

23 March 2008

In the pouring rain at St Peter's Square thousands of the faithful heard Pope Benedict XVI call for peace in the Holy Land, Iraq and Tibet amongst other troubled places.  He encouaged "solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good".

Full details of the Holy Father's Urbi et Orbi blessing and all his Holy Week addresses are on the Vatican website.

A short video of this morning's Urbi et Orbi is available from Sky News.  The BBC has more of the Holy Father's blessing - which you can watch if you were at Mass when the Pope delivered his Urbi et Orbi at 11.00 am (12.00 pm in Rome) this morning.

The Pope concluded his blessing saying, "Let us invoke the fullness of his Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary who, after sharing the sufferings of the passion and crucifixion of her innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of his resurrection.  Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace.  These are my Easter greetings, which I address to all who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent united with us through radio and television.  Happy Easter!"