On Easter, pope calls for peace, diplomacy

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI offered an Easter prayer yesterday for diplomacy to prevail over warfare in Libya and for citizens of the Middle East to build a new society based on respect.

He also called on Europeans to welcome refugees from North Africa.

"In heaven, all is peace and gladness. But, alas, all is not so on Earth!" the pope lamented as he delivered the traditional Easter message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to a crowd of more than 100,000 that overflowed St. Peter's Square.

"In the current conflict in Libya, may diplomacy and dialogue replace arms, and may those who suffer as a result of the conflict be given access to humanitarian aid," he said.

In Washington, the first family attended Easter service at a church founded in 1863 by freed slaves. President Barack Obama hugged some members of the Shiloh Baptist Church congregation as he and his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, walked to a second-row pew.

The pope, referring to North Africa and the Middle East, prayed that all citizens, especially young people, would "work to promote the common good and to build a society where poverty is defeated and every political choice is inspired by respect for the human person."

Uprisings, repression and civil warfare have triggered an exodus to Italian shores as well as to other countries in the region. Europe has been split over whether to accept or deport tens of thousands of migrants, many of them from Libya and elsewhere in northern Africa.

Benedict rallied to the side of refugees, urging people of good will to "open their hearts to welcome them." The pontiff, 84, was resplendent in gold-colored robes as he sat on a chair and read his speech in Italian.

This year, Easter fell on the same day in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic calendars and, in Jerusalem, Orthodox and Catholics worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' Good Friday crucifixion and of his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Protestants held ceremonies outside the walled Old City at the Garden Tomb, said by some to be the site of Jesus' burial.

In Cagliari, Sardinia, an Easter lunch of Sardinian cheese, pasta and lamb was served by Caritas, the Catholic charity, to some 20 Tunisians, the Italian news agency ANSA reported from the island. The diners were some of the more than 26,000 Tunisians who have clandestinely entered Italy since January.

In Rome, the drama of society's unwanted played out in one of the city's major basilicas, where 150 Gypsies have taken refuge from city officials who are dismantling illegal trailer settlements. Later, a top aide to the pope went to meet with the Romas and express Benedict's "closeness" to them, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.