ROME: Pope Francis issued a renewed call for peace to mark the end of the Easter period on Monday.
Following the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) chant on St Peter's Square in Rome, Francis prayed for "the gift of peace for the whole world."
Several thousand pilgrims gathered to celebrate the second Easter holiday with the 86-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Regina Caeli replaces the Angelus normally said on a Sunday up to Pentecost Sunday, which falls this year on May 28.
Francis has made use of all the church's occasions this Easter to issue a call for peace at the climax of the Christian calendar.
Around 100,000 faithful were on hand on Easter Sunday to hear the traditional Urbi et Orbi address, when Francis urged peace in Ukraine, praying for both Ukrainians and Russians.
Pope also said on Monday he was praying that the Good Friday agreement signed 25 years ago that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland can be "consolidated" to benefit the people of all of Ireland.
Francis made the comment about the 1998 agreement, which has come under strain following Britain's exit from the European Union, in his noon address on Easter Monday.
"Today marks the 25th anniversary of the so-called Good Friday agreement, or of Belfast, which brought an end to the violence that for decades troubled Northern Ireland," Francis said.
Signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998, the agreement is considered one of the most significant peace deals of the late 20th Century, seeking to end three decades of sectarian strife between Catholic and Protestants known as "The Troubles" that killed more than 3,600 people.
"In a spirit of gratitude I pray to the God of peace so that what was achieved in that historic step can be consolidated to benefit all the men and women of the island of Ireland," the head of the nearly 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church said. - AFP
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