The prayers of nuns and monks are like "oxygen" for all members of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said.

On a bright spring morning, Pope Francis prayed that Christians would experience the joy of Easter and allow Christ's resurrection to be "the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped."

The unborn, migrants, the elderly and the disabled are "living icons" of Jesus that call Christians to draw close to those who feel abandoned just as Christ did on the cross, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has invited Catholics worldwide to renew the act of consecrating the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to Mary every March 25, the feast of the Annunciation.

The mission to spread the Gospel message of God's love and of salvation in Christ is entrusted to all the baptized who are called to work together and never set out alone, Pope Francis said.

The people of Congo are more precious than any of the gems or minerals found in the earth beneath their feet, yet they have been slaughtered by warmongers and exploited by prospectors, Pope Francis said.

Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis said.

Sharing the faith is the "oxygen" that "invigorates and purifies" Christian life, Pope Francis said.

Pope Benedict XVI was a "great teacher of catechesis" whose "sharp and gentle thinking" led others to encounter Jesus, Pope Francis said.

Christ was born to touch people's hearts and show that love is the power that changes the course of history, Pope Francis said.