Pope: End attacks on Christians

Pope Francis has prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in his Easter Sunday address, commemorating the students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.

Francis, after saying Mass for thousands of people in a rainy St Peter’s Square, delivered a mostly sombre and grim “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) message. Attacks on Christians in Africa and the Middle East have been the grim backdrop of all Holy Week ceremonies leading up to Easter.

“We ask Jesus, the victor over death, to lighten the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for his name, and of all those who suffer injustice as a result of ongoing conflicts and violence, and there are many,” he said.