Pope Leo at Easter Sunday Mass: ‘Death no longer has power over us’

April 05, 2026

Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass of Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square this morning (booklet, video) and emphasized that Christ’s Resurrection has overcome the power of death.

The Pontiff celebrated the Mass in Latin, with the Gospel proclaimed in Greek and other readings in vernacular languages. Fifty thousand people were in attendance, and St. Peter’s Square was adorned with over 65,000 tulips and other flowers from the Netherlands.

“Today all of creation is resplendent with new light, a song of praise rises from the earth, and our hearts rejoice: Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life,” Pope Leo began. “This Easter proclamation embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history, reaching us even in the depths of death, where we feel threatened and sometimes overwhelmed.”

The Pope continued, “It opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away: death has been conquered forever; death no longer has power over us!”

Pope Leo said that this message “is not always easy to accept, a promise that we struggle to embrace, because the power of death constantly threatens us, both from within and without.”

The power of death threatens us from within, he said, through our sins, worries, resentments, and sufferings; it threatens us from without “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.”

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” Pope Leo continued. Yet “in this reality, the Passover of the Lord invites us to lift our gaze and open our hearts.”

The Pope explained:

It continues to nourish the seed of the promised victory within our spirit and throughout the course of history. It sets us in motion, like Mary Magdalene and the Apostles, so that we may discover that Jesus’ tomb is empty, and therefore in every death we experience there is also room for new life to arise ...

Brothers and sisters, Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day. This is what today’s Gospel tells us, as it clearly describes the event of the resurrection as taking place on “the first day of the week” (Jn 20:1). The day of Christ’s resurrection thus takes us back to that first day when God created the world, and at the same time proclaims that a new life, stronger than death, is now dawning for humanity.

“Easter is the new creation brought about by the Risen Lord; it is a new beginning; it is life finally made eternal by God’s victory over the ancient enemy,” the Pope added, concluding:

We need this song of hope today. It is ourselves, risen with Christ, who must bring him into the streets of the world. Let us then run like Mary Madgalene, announcing him to everyone, living out the joy of the resurrection, so that wherever the specter of death still lingers, the light of life may shine.

May Christ, our Passover, bless us and give his peace to the whole world!

 

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Further information:

• Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of the Lord - Holy Mass on Easter Day (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 4/5/26)
• Pope Leo: Easter opens us up to hope that never fails (Vatican News, 4/5/26)