VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday led an Easter vigil service, baptising eight adults, including a formerly undocumented Nigerian migrant beggar who became a hero when he disarmed an Italian thief wielding a cleaver.

The baptism took place during a long Holy Saturday, or Easter eve, Mass for some 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The church, the largest in Christendom, was dark at the start of the service before lights were turned on, signifying the passage from darkness to light when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.

The pope traditionally welcomes new members of the Church during the Saturday night service.

This year, among those he baptised was John Ogah, 31, who Italian newspapers last year dubbed the “migrant hero” and held up as an example of bravery and good citizenship.

Ogah was begging for change outside a supermarket in a Rome neighbourhood where many migrants live last September when he stopped a 37-year-old Italian who had just held up the store with a cleaver and was getting away with about 400 euros, according to the Catholic television station TV2000.

The Nigerian, who did not have permission to stay in Italy, held the man down until police arrived and then left the scene, fearing it would be discovered he did not have documents, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

Police using footage from surveillance cameras tracked him down and rewarded him by helping him get legal permission to stay in the country.

An Italian Carabinieri police captain who worked in the neighbourhood, Nunzio Carbone, was his godfather, or sponsor, at Saturday’s baptism service.

Carbone and his fellow policemen helped Ogah get his immigration papers. The Nigerian now works as a stockman at a warehouse for a charity organisation.

The other newly baptised at the service came from Albania, Peru, Italy and the United States.

Francis has made defence of migrants a key part of his papacy.

On Sunday, the pope ends Holy See services by celebrating an Easter Mass and then delivers his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.</s>VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday led an Easter vigil service, baptizing eight adults, including a formerly undocumented Nigerian migrant beggar who became a hero when he disarmed an Italian thief wielding a cleaver.



The baptism took place during a long Holy Saturday, or Easter eve, Mass for some 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The church, the largest in Christendom, was dark at the start of the service before lights were turned on, signifying the passage from darkness to light when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.

The pope traditionally welcomes new members of the Church during the Saturday night service.

This year, among those he baptised, was John Ogah, 31, who Italian newspapers last year dubbed the “migrant hero” and held up as an example of bravery and good citizenship.

Ogah was begging for change outside a supermarket in a Rome neighborhood where many migrants live last September when he stopped a 37-year-old Italian who had just held up the store with a cleaver and was getting away with about 400 euros, according to the Catholic television station TV2000.

The Nigerian, who did not have permission to stay in Italy, held the man down until police arrived and then left the scene, fearing it would be discovered he did not have documents, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

Police using footage from surveillance cameras tracked him down and rewarded him by helping him get legal permission to stay in the country.

An Italian Carabinieri police captain who worked in the neighborhood, Nunzio Carbone, was his godfather, or sponsor, at Saturday’s baptism service.

Carbone and his fellow policemen helped Ogah get his immigration papers. The Nigerian now works as a stockman at a warehouse for a charity organization.

The other newly baptized at the service came from Albania, Peru, Italy and the United States.

Francis has made defense of migrants a key part of his papacy.

On Sunday, the pope ends Holy See services by celebrating an Easter Mass and then delivers his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.</s>Pope Francis, in his Easter address, has called for peace in the Holy Land two days after 15 Palestinians were killed on the Israeli-Gaza border, saying the conflict there “does not spare the defenceless“.



The pontiff made his appeal in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome to tens of thousands of people in the flower-bedecked square below where he earlier celebrated a mass.

He also appealed for an end to the “carnage” in Syria, calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter the country, and for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Francis appeared to refer directly to last Friday’s Gaza violence, calling for “reconciliation for the Holy Land, also experiencing in these days the wounds of ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenceless”.

Israel’s defence minister has rejected calls for an inquiry into the killings by the military during a Palestinian demonstration that turned violent at the Gaza-Israel border.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, and other leaders have called for an independent investigation into the bloodshed.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christians attend Easter mass at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

The pope also begged for peace for “the entire world, beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria, whose people are worn down by an apparently endless war”.

“This Easter, may the light of the risen Christ illumine the consciences of all political and military leaders, so that a swift end may be brought to the carnage in course,” he said.

He spoke a day after the Syrian army command said it had regained most of the towns and villages in eastern Ghouta. Tens of thousands of people have fled once-bustling towns in the suburbs east of the capital, which had nearly 2 million people before the start of the conflict and were major commercial and industrial hubs.

Francis called for international assistance for Venezuela, so that more people would not have to abandon their homeland because of the economic and political crisis.

He hoped the “fruits of dialogue” would advance peace and harmony on the Korean peninsula, where the two sides are set to hold their first summit in more than a decade on 27 April, after the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, pledged his commitment to denuclearisation.

Francis, celebrating his sixth Easter as Roman Catholic leader since his election in 2013, urged his listeners to work for an end to the “so many acts of injustice” in the world.

He prayed that the power of Jesus’s message “bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment, where there are migrants and refugees – so often rejected by today’s culture of waste – and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery”.</s>Pope Francis on Saturday led an Easter vigil service, baptizing eight adults, including a formerly undocumented Nigerian migrant beggar who became a hero when he disarmed an Italian thief wielding a cleaver.

The baptism took place during a long Holy Saturday, or Easter eve, Mass for 10,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica.

The church, the largest in Christendom, was dark at the start of the service before lights were turned on, signifying the passage from darkness to light when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.

The pope traditionally welcomes new members of the church during the Saturday night service.

This year, among those he baptized was John Ogah, 31, whom Italian newspapers last year dubbed the "migrant hero" and held up as an example of bravery and good citizenship.

Ogah was begging for change outside a supermarket in a Rome neighborhood where many migrants live last September when he

 stopped a 37-year-old Italian who had just held up the store with a cleaver and was getting away with about 400 euros, according to the Catholic television station TV2000.

The Nigerian, who did not have permission to stay in Italy, held the man down until police arrived and then left the scene, fearing it would be discovered he did not have documents, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

Police using footage from surveillance cameras tracked him down and rewarded him by helping him get legal permission to stay in the country.

An Italian Carabinieri police captain who worked in the neighborhood, Nunzio Carbone, was his godfather, or sponsor, at Saturday's baptism service.

Carbone and his fellow police officers helped Ogah get his immigration papers. The Nigerian now works as a stockman at a warehouse for a charity organization.

The other newly baptized at the service came from Albania, Peru, Italy and the United States.

Francis has made defense of migrants a key part of his papacy.

On Sunday, the pope ends Holy See services by celebrating an Easter Mass and then delivers his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" ("to the city and the world") blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.</s>On March 31, Pope Francis led an Easter vigil service, having baptized eight adults, including thea former illegal Nigerian migrant in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Ogah, who reportedly used to be a beggar, was asking for money outside a supermarket in Rome when he managed to stop and disarm a cleaver-wielding Italian who tried to rob the store. The Nigerian, who at the time was an undocumented migrant, held the man down until police arrived and then fled the scene out of fear they would discover that he did not have permission to stay in Italy.

However, police officers, Nunzio Carbone and his fellow policeman, managed to track him down using footage from surveillance cameras and rewarded him, helping to get his immigration papers.

Pope Francis has consistently condemned politicians, propagating alarm over immigration, and has told nations to put asylum seekers’ safety first over national security.</s>Pope Francis on Saturday led an Easter vigil service, baptising eight adults, including a formerly undocumented Nigerian migrant beggar who became a hero when he disarmed an Italian thief wielding a cleaver.

The baptism took place during a long Holy Saturday, or Easter eve, Mass for some 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The church, the largest in Christendom, was dark at the start of the service before lights were turned on, signifying the passage from darkness to light when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.

The pope traditionally welcomes new members of the Church during the Saturday night service.

This year, among those he baptised was John Ogah, 31, who Italian newspapers last year dubbed the “migrant hero” and held up as an example of bravery and good citizenship.

Ogah was begging for change outside a supermarket in a Rome neighbourhood where many migrants live last September when he stopped a 37-year-old Italian who had just held up the store with a cleaver and was getting away with about 400 euros, according to the Catholic television station TV2000.

The Nigerian, who did not have permission to stay in Italy, held the man down until police arrived and then left the scene, fearing it would be discovered he did not have documents, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

Police using footage from surveillance cameras tracked him down and rewarded him by helping him get legal permission to stay in the country.

An Italian Carabinieri police captain who worked in the neighbourhood, Nunzio Carbone, was his godfather, or sponsor, at Saturday’s baptism service.

Carbone and his fellow policemen helped Ogah get his immigration papers. The Nigerian now works as a stockman at a warehouse for a charity organisation.

The other newly baptised at the service came from Albania, Peru, Italy and the United States.

Francis has made defence of migrants a key part of his papacy.

On Sunday, the pope ends Holy See services by celebrating an Easter Mass and then delivers his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.</s>Pope Francis on Saturday urged Catholics to not remain paralyzed in the face of the injustices around them as he baptized eight adults, including a Nigerian beggar who became a hero in Italy for having disarmed a thief with his bare hands.

In an Easter Vigil homily, Francis challenged Catholics to not remain silent, as Jesus' disciples were after his crucifixion. Rather, he urged Catholics to "break out" of their routines and let God in.

It wasn't clear if he had a particular reference in mind, but John Ogah certainly didn't stand by speechless as he witnessed a supermarket robbery on Sept. 26.

According to Italian news reports, Ogah had been begging for spare change outside the Carrefour market in Rome's Centocelle neighborhood when a masked thief, armed with a meat cleaver, tried to make off with 400 euros ($493) he had stolen from the cashiers.

Security cameras captured Ogah's courageous next steps: With nothing more than his bare hands, he confronted the thief, wrested the cleaver away and held him by the collar until police arrived, after the man fell from his attempted getaway motorcycle.

Ogah then disappeared, fearing he would be deported because he didn't have his papers in order. But Rome police authorities sought to reward his courage and within a month had given him a coveted Italian residency permit that had been denied him when his asylum bid failed.

According to the ANSA news agency, he now has a job with the Italian Red Cross and a place to call home. In preparing for his baptism, he reportedly asked the Rome police captain who handled his case to be his godfather.

In an interview soon after the theft, Ogah told La Repubblica newspaper that his dream was to be legally resident in Italy and have a job so he wouldn't have to beg to support his child back home in Nigeria. Ogah had left Nigeria and, after a stay in Libya, set off for Italy on a migrant smuggler's boat in May 2014.

"If Pope Francis or the president of the republic could do something for me I would be the happiest man in the world," he was quoted as saying. "I don't want to be a hero. I just want to be legal, work and have a dignified life in Italy."

On Saturday, Francis baptized him during the solemn pomp of one of the holiest nights in the Catholic liturgical calendar.

Ogah chose as his baptismal name "Francesco."</s>(VATICAN CITY) — On Christianity’s most joyful day, Pope Francis called for peace in a world marked by war and conflict, “beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria” and extending to Israel, where 15 Palestinians were killed on the Israeli-Gaza border two days before Easter Sunday.

Francis reflected on the power of Christianity’s core belief — that Jesus rose from the dead following crucifixion — in his formal “Urbi et Orbi” Easter message delivered from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to a packed square of some 80,000 faithful below.

The pontiff said the message of the resurrection offers hope in a world “marked by so many acts of injustice and violence,” including parts of Africa affected by “hunger, endemic conflicts and terrorism.”

“It bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment; where there are migrants and refugees, so often rejected by today’s culture of waste, and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery,” the pope said.

Francis called for a “swift end” to the seven years of carnage in Syria, demanding that aid be delivered to the war-torn country’s needy and calling for “fitting conditions for the returned and the displaced.”

The pope also urged reconciliation in Israel, a place “experiencing in these days the wounds of ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenseless.” His remarks followed the Friday deaths of Palestinian protesters who charged toward Gaza’s border with Israel, the area’s deadliest violence in four years.

Turning to Asia, Francis expressed hope that talks underway could bring peace to the Korean peninsula, urging “those who are directly responsible act with wisdom and discernment to promote the good of the Korean people.”

The pope also urged more steps to bring harmony to divided Ukraine, called for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and appealed for the world not to forget victims of conflict, especially children.

“May there be no lack of solidarity with all those forced to leave their native lands and lacking the bare essentials for living,” said Francis, who has often championed the cause of migrants and refugees.

The church’s first pontiff from Latin America cited in particular the problems in Venezuela. He said he hoped the country would “find a just, peaceful and humane way to surmount quickly the political and humanitarian crises that grip it.”

Earlier, tens of thousands of faithful underwent heavy security checks to enter St. Peter’s Square to participate in Easter Sunday Mass celebrated by the pope, followed by his “Urbi et Orbi” message (“to the city and the world.”)

Security precautions included bag checks and metal detector wands for everyone entering the square, while the main avenue leading to the Vatican, as well as smaller adjoining streets, were closed to traffic.

Francis opened Easter festivities with a tweet to his global flock: “Our faith is born on Easter morning: Jesus is alive! The experience is at the heart of the Christian message.”

Elsewhere, hundreds of Christians marked Easter by flocking to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where they believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.</s>VATICAN CITY (CBSNEWS/AP) – On Christianity’s most joyful day, Pope Francis in his Easter Sunday message called for peace in a world marked by war and conflict, “beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria,” and extending to the entire Middle East, the Korean peninsula and parts of Africa affected by “hunger, endemic conflicts and terrorism.”

Francis reflected on the power of Christianity’s core belief — that Jesus rose from the dead following crucifixion — in his formal “Urbi et Orbi” Easter message delivered from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to a packed square below.

The pontiff said the message of the resurrection offers hope in a world “marked by so many acts of injustice and violence.”

“It bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment; where there are migrants and refugees, so often rejected by today’s culture of waste, and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery,” the pope said.

He called for a “swift end” to carnage in Syria, demanding that aid be delivered to the needy there and calling for “fitting conditions for the returned and the displaced.” Francis has been outspoken in his condemnation of the civil war in Syria, and was credited with leading the opposition to military intervention by the West in 2013, according to BBC Vatican correspondent David Willey.

The pope also urged reconciliation in Israel and hoped that mutual respect would “prevail over divisions” in Yemen and the entire Middle East.

Turning to Asia, Francis hoped that talks underway could bring peace to the Korean peninsula, urging “those who are directly responsible act with wisdom and discernment to promote the good of the Korean people.”

For Ukraine, the pope urged more steps to bring harmony to that divided nation. He also called for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, urging the world not to forget victims of conflict, especially children.

“May there be no lack of solidarity with all those forced to leave their native lands and lacking the bare essentials for living,” said the pope who has often championed the cause of migrants and refugees.

The church’s first pontiff from Latin America cited in particular the problems in Venezuela, voicing hope the country would “find a just, peaceful and humane way to surmount quickly the political and humanitarian crises that grip it.”

Earlier, tens of thousands of faithful underwent heavy security checks to enter St. Peter’s Square to participate in Easter Sunday Mass celebrated by the pope, followed by his “Urbi et Orbi” message (“to the city and the world”).

Security precautions included bag checks and metal detector wands for everyone entering the square, while the main avenue leading to the Vatican, as well as smaller adjoining streets, were closed to traffic.

Francis opened Easter festivities with a Tweet to his global flock: “Our faith is born on Easter morning: Jesus is alive! The experience is at the heart of the Christian message.”

Elsewhere, hundreds of Christians marked Easter by flocking to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where they believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Easter should be a time for hope in a world ‘marked by so many acts of injustice and violence’, Pope Francis said today.

He used his high-profile mass in St Peter’s Square to call for peace, naming Syria especially to call for a ‘swift end’ to the civil war which has been raging since 2011, as well as ‘fitting conditions for the returned and the displaced’.

Pope Francis also spoke of his hope for peace in Israel, the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and parts of Africa affected by ‘hunger, endemic conflicts and terrorism’.

Tens of thousands of faithful underwent heavy security checks to enter St Peter’s Square to participate in Easter Sunday Mass.

Security precautions included bag checks and metal detector wands for everyone entering the square, while the main avenue leading to the Vatican, as well as smaller adjoining streets, were closed to traffic.

Francis reflected on the power of Christianity’s core belief – that Jesus rose from the dead following crucifixion – in his formal ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and the world’) Easter message delivered from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to a packed square below.

‘It bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment; where there are migrants and refugees, so often rejected by today’s culture of waste, and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery,’ he said.

He urged the world not to forget victims of conflict, especially children.

‘May there be no lack of solidarity with all those forced to leave their native lands and lacking the bare essentials for living,’ said Francis, who has often championed the cause of migrants and refugees.

The church’s first pontiff from Latin America cited in particular the problems in Venezuela, voicing hope the country would ‘find a just, peaceful and humane way to surmount quickly the political and humanitarian crises that grip it’.

Earlier, Francis opened Easter festivities with a tweet to his global flock: ‘Our faith is born on Easter morning: Jesus is alive! The experience is at the heart of the Christian message.’

Elsewhere, hundreds of Christians marked Easter by flocking to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where they believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

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Pope Francis uses his Easter address to call for peace between the peoples of Israel and Palestine in response to the clashes.