At the Regina Caeli on Easter Monday in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV warned that the truth is increasingly obscured by “fake news” and paid tribute to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Francis died on April 21, 2025, Easter Monday, at the age of 88. Remembering him, the Pope said: “In the light of the Risen Lord, we remember Pope Francis today with special affection,” and praised his “great witness of faith and love.”
Drawing on the Gospel account of the empty tomb, Pope Leo highlighted the contrasting reports that followed the discovery of Christ’s Resurrection. He noted that while the women who encountered the risen Lord announced what they had seen, the guards offered a conflicting account, claiming that the body had been taken. From the same event, he said, emerged two opposing narratives.
He told the faithful that this contrast remains evident today, as truth is frequently challenged by distortion and confusion. “Often, the proclamation of truth is obscured by what we today call ‘fake news’ – lies, insinuations, and unfounded accusations,” he said.
The Pope said that such conditions risk hindering the transmission of the Gospel, particularly among those most in need of its message. He spoke of people “oppressed by the evil that corrupts history and confuses consciences” and said that the Paschal mystery must reach them “in both word and deed”.
“To proclaim the Paschal mystery of Christ in both word and deed means to give a new voice to hope,” he said, adding that this hope is often “stifled by the hands of the violent”.
Pope Leo pointed to contemporary situations of suffering, including those affected by war, Christians persecuted for their faith and children denied access to education. He said that in such circumstances the witness of believers is essential, not only in preaching but in action.
“Wherever the Gospel is lived and proclaimed,” he said, it “brings light into darkness and restores meaning amid confusion.”
At the conclusion of the address, the Pope again recalled Pope Francis, noting that he “on Easter Monday of last year, returned to the Lord”, and entrusted the Church to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, invoking her under the title Seat of Wisdom.
Following the prayer, the Pope also referred to the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, marked annually on April 6. He said that sport, through its “universal language of fraternity”, should be promoted as “a place of inclusion and peace”.
The Regina Caeli replaces the Angelus during the Easter season, as established liturgically by Pope Benedict XIV in 1742. Pope Leo delivered his first Regina Caeli address on May 11, 2025, acknowledging the “gift from God” that his first Sunday as Bishop of Rome fell on Good Shepherd Sunday.
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