The Pope grants plenary indulgence and Urbi et Orbi blessing. First he met Vance in Santa Marta

On the last day of the Roman holidays US Vice President J.D. Vance managed to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. The Pope and Vance, accompanied by his wife Usha and three children, met at Casa Santa Marta for an exchange of Easter greetings. Meanwhile, some 35,000 faithful were in St Peter's Square for the Easter Mass. On the parvis of St Peter's Basilica at 10.30 a.m., Mass began on Easter Sunday in the Resurrection of the Lord. Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the Basilica, was delegated by Pope Francis to preside over the celebration. Concelebrating were 26 cardinals, 16 bishops and 250 priests. The square, as mentioned, is packed with the faithful and the influx into the square continues. Security measures were raised.

The Mass began with the rite of "Resurrexit". The homily read by Cardinal Comastri, was prepared by Pope Francis, who after meeting Vance looked out from the Loggia for the Urbi et Orbi blessing, wishing "Happy Easter dear brothers and sisters". In Francis' message, read by Monsignor Ravelli, he emphasised those in pain know that the cry is heard. Christ is risen, this is the foundation of hope. And hope is also responsibility. Easter is the feast of life. Every life is precious, that of the child in its mother's womb and that of the elderly left alone. We are all God's children, peace is possible. Let hope return to all the earth. I am close to the Israeli and Palestinian people. I am close to the Christian community of Gaza. I appeal to the belligerents for a cease-fire. A special thought also to the people of Yemen who are experiencing one of the worst situations in the world. For Ukraine, a just and lasting peace must be achieved. Destabilising behaviour must be rejected. Peace impossible without true disarmament. Let us pray for peace in Myanmar. May there be no lack of help for the people of Burma affected by the earthquake, and let us pray for all the volunteers providing relief. May prisoners of war and political prisoners be freed in this jubilee year. At the end of the reading, the Pope, in a faint voice, granted the plenary indulgence by imparting the Urbi et Orbi blessing to more than 35,000 faithful from all over the world who packed the Square.

In his homily, the Pope said that 'the greatest hope of our life' is to 'live this poor, fragile and wounded existence clinging to Christ, because he has conquered death, he conquers our darkness and he will conquer the darkness of the world, so that we can live with him in joy, forever'.

We need to renew this hope, wrote Pope Francis: "The Jubilee calls us to renew in ourselves the gift of this hope, to immerse in it our sufferings and our anxieties, to infect those we meet along the way, to entrust to this hope the future of our lives and the destiny of humanity. We cannot park our hearts in the illusions of this world or lock them away in sadness; we must run, full of joy. Let us run to meet Jesus, let us rediscover the priceless grace of being his friend. Let us let his word of life and truth illuminate our path".

And he continued in his homily. "Easter delivers us to movement, it urges us to run like Mary of Magdala and like the disciples it invites us to have eyes capable of ''seeing beyond'', to glimpse Jesus, the Living One, as the God who reveals himself and also today makes himself present, speaks to us, precedes us, surprises us''. Then the Pope's warning. "Shake off from us, O God, the sad dust of habit, weariness and disenchantment; give us the joy of waking up, every morning, with amazed eyes to see the unseen colours of that morning, unique and different from every other. Brothers and sisters, here is the greatest hope of our life: we can live this poor, fragile and wounded existence clinging to Christ, because He has conquered death, overcomes our darkness and will overcome the darkness of the world, to make us live with Him in joy, forever. Towards this goal, as the Apostle Paul says, we also run, forgetting what is behind us and living leaning towards what is in front of us," the Pontiff wrote. "We cannot park our hearts in the illusions of this world or shut them up in sadness; we must run, full of joy. Let us run to meet Jesus, let us rediscover the priceless grace of being his friends." At the end of the homily reading, Cardinal Comastri thanked Pope Francis for "this strong invitation to reawaken our faith in Jesus risen and alive and always present beside us".