Easter is a radical refutation of the logic that governs history when it is driven by fear: the logic of blood, of sacrificing the other, of violence justified as necessary.
The Easter story begins within this logic. The condemned man is eliminated “for the greater good.” Conflict finds its oldest solution: removing the problem. The torment of the cross is the seal of this mechanism.
And yet Easter fractures it from within. The Risen One does not return violence. He does not demand revenge. He does not reopen the case. He returns with a simple word: peace.
Here lies the decisive point. The Resurrection is not the triumph of a greater force, but the end of the spiral of force. The Risen Lord is the Lord of peace because he removes God from every violent use.
As Pope Francis once said, using the name of God to justify hatred and violence is “a blasphemy.” It’s not a political mistake but a distortion of the divine.
Easter disarms. It breaks the idea that evil can be defeated by a greater evil. It compels us to think that peace is not merely a pause between two wars, but a real possibility.
This is the appeal of Pope Leo XIV, marked by a clear call to peace as a credible horizon for both faith and history. Prevost rejects every religious justification of violence. He stated it plainly during this Holy Week, as political leaders of democracies and theocracies alike invoke a bloodthirsty God.
This is our God, Leo said: “Jesus, King of peace. A God who rejects war, whom no one can invoke to justify war, who does not listen to the prayer of those who wage war and rejects it, saying: “Even if you multiply your prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).
Easter is this passage: from the supposed necessity of war to the possibility of peace. Christian peace does not arise from victory over someone. The claim that God desires blood is a blasphemy. Leo calls for a disarmed and disarming peace in our time, when blood is still being shed in the name of a reason believed to be absolute.
With thanks to Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA) and Antonio Spadaro SJ, where this article originally appeared.
