Pope Francis celebrated his first Easter Mass with departures from the style of his predecessor even as he delivered a traditional call for peace.
While it's traditional for the pope to deliver a message of peace on Easter Sunday, his direct interactions with the crowd reinforced stylistic differences between him and the austere, distant approach of Benedict XVI, observers said.
Barely two weeks since his election, the first Latin American pope celebrated Easter Mass from an outdoor altar in the presence of tens of thousands of followers in St. Peter's Square. Dressed in white, unadorned vestments consistent with his modest image, Francis celebrated Easter Mass alone, without his cardinals.
After Mass, he made his way through St. Peter's Square in an open-top pope mobile free of bulletproof glass so he could stop to greet followers with handshakes, embraces and kisses.
In his first Urbi et Orbi blessing from the papal balcony, Francis called for an end to conflicts in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula. He also called for peace for Syrians -- both those devastated by violence in the country and refugees in need of help -- and harmony in the troubled African nations of Mali and the Central African Republic.
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