Pope Leo XIV’s message during Holy Week and Easter
Holy Week and the Easter Triduum form the culmination of the Church’s liturgical year, in which Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection are revealed as one unified mystery of salvation. Pope Leo’s homilies during these days are not merely separate addresses; together they form a coherent and ever-deepening whole, in which one and the same message receives its own emphasis at each stage.
At the heart of this message lies a fundamental question: what is the nature of God’s power, and how does it act in a world marked by violence, suffering, and injustice? The Pope’s answer is clear and demanding: God’s power is not violence, but self-giving love.
Palm Sunday: the King of peace and the rejection of violence
In his Palm Sunday homily, the Holy Father laid the foundation for the entire week. The first theme is Christ’s identity as the King of peace. Jesus does not come to power through weapons or coercion, but through gentleness and self-giving. The Pope makes a decisive point: God cannot be used to justify war. He is not a God of violence, and no one can invoke Him to legitimize war or the oppression of others.
The second theme concerns the path chosen by Christ. Jesus does not defend himself with force, though he could. He does not respond to violence with violence, but commands that the sword be put back into its sheath. This is not passivity, but an active choice of love. Christ does not save himself, but gives himself up to be crucified, thus bearing the suffering of all humanity.
A third, more subtle but important aspect concerns prayer: God does not hear prayer that arises without conversion, prayer from lips whose hands are full of violence. Palm Sunday is therefore not only a celebration, but a call to inner transformation.
Chrism Mass: the right use of power and salvation in the midst of darkness
At the Chrism Mass on Thursday morning, the Pope deepened the reflection on power. The first key idea is that good never arises from the abuse of power. This applies both to the Church and to society. Power based on domination, control, or self-interest stands in contradiction to the Gospel.
The second theme concerns Christ’s way of saving. The Messiah does not remain distant from suffering but enters into it. He comes to the poor, the imprisoned, and the rejected, and descends even into death. In this movement, the Pope sees the beginning of a new creation: God does not change the world from the outside, but from within.
A third aspect is the unveiling of violence. The way of Christ reveals the true nature of violence: it builds nothing lasting and ultimately proves empty. This gives Christians a foundation for evaluating the structures of power in our own time.
Holy Thursday: purification, service, and the renewal of humanity
At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Pope turned his attention to the life of the Church and the vocation of the Christian. The first key idea is purification. The washing of feet concerns not only sin, but also distorted notions of power, greatness, and humanity. People tend to associate power with control and fear, but Christ overturns this logic.
The answer of Christ—and of the Christian—is service. Christ, true God and true man, shows that true greatness is self-giving. This is not merely an example, but a model that defines the very nature of the Church. The Church is faithful to her Lord when she serves.
The Holy Father also emphasizes the renewal of humanity. Christ does not merely offer moral teaching, but restores to humanity its true image. True humanity is not realized in power, but in love.
Easter Vigil: life revealed at the threshold of death
In the Easter Vigil, the Church moves from darkness into light. The first key idea is God’s will: He does not will the death of man. This is a decisive Christian principle in a world where death often seems to have the final word.
The second theme is passage. The Pope uses Israel’s liberation as an image: the sea is both a place of death and of life. In the same way, Christian life passes through darkness into light. Salvation does not bypass suffering, but passes through it.
A third aspect is the concreteness of history. The Pope connects the liturgy with present reality: suffering is not only a past event, but a present reality. For this reason, the message of Easter is both timely and necessary.
Easter Day: the reality of death and the hope of the Resurrection
In the Mass of Easter Day, the Holy Father unites realism and hope. The first key idea is that the power of death is still visible in the world: in injustice, violence, the oppression of the poor, and the exploitation of creation. Christianity does not deny this reality.
But there is also the certainty of Easter: Christ’s tomb is empty. This is not a symbol, but an event that changes everything. Death no longer has the final word; in every death, the possibility of new life is opened.
The Pope emphasizes Christ’s presence. The Lord is not merely a figure of the past, but living and present. Therefore, hope is not merely an idea, but a reality that sustains us.
Urbi et Orbi: the danger of indifference and the power of nonviolence
In his Urbi et Orbi message, the Pope addressed the whole world. The first key idea is a warning against indifference. People easily become accustomed to violence and cease to see the suffering of others. This is a spiritual blindness that prevents true change.
The second theme concerns the nature of Easter’s power. The power of Christ’s Resurrection is entirely nonviolent. It does not coerce or dominate, but transforms the heart.
Finally, the Pope issues a concrete call: weapons must be laid down, and dialogue must resume. Peace does not arise by itself—it requires decisions and action.
One path, one power, one calling
Pope Leo’s Holy Week and Easter homilies form a clear and coherent whole. Ultimately, there are not many themes, but one reality seen from different perspectives.
At the center is the nature of God’s power. It is not violence or coercion, but self-giving love. This is revealed in Christ’s life, reaches its climax on the Cross, and becomes visible in the Resurrection. God does not overcome evil by becoming evil, but by remaining faithful to love.
Another key point concerns the way of salvation. It does not occur through external domination, but from within—in the human heart and in history. Christ enters human reality, bears it, and transforms it.
Finally, the Christian vocation emerges clearly. Easter is not only a feast, but a way of life. Christians are called to live out nonviolent love: to reject violence, renounce the abuse of power, and resist indifference.
Perhaps the deepest perspective is hope. The message of Easter is not based on optimism, but on reality: Christ is risen from the dead. Therefore, death does not have the final word, and no darkness is final.
The Holy Father’s message may be summed up thus: peace is possible because God’s love is stronger than violence. But this peace does not arise by itself—it begins when a person opens themselves to the power that does not coerce, but calls.
Christ is risen. And precisely for that reason, the world can change.
Compiled by Marko Tervaportti