Pope Leo XIV has pledged to prioritise global peace, rejecting war as inevitable and offering the Vatican’s role in mediating international conflicts.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff in history, has vowed to make "every effort" to promote peace worldwide, reiterating his readiness to offer the Vatican as a neutral venue for dialogue between warring parties.
Speaking to representatives of the Eastern Catholic Churches—many of whom come from areas affected by violence such as Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq—Leo emphasised that "war is never inevitable" and warned that weapons only worsen human suffering.
"The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face-to-face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace," the Pope said.
He cautioned against binary worldviews that frame others as enemies, instead urging recognition of shared humanity. "Our neighbours are not first our enemies, but fellow human beings," he noted.
Since succeeding Pope Francis last week, Leo has repeatedly called for peace. His first words to the public from St Peter’s Square were “Peace be with all you.”
On Sunday, the pontiff called for a lasting peace in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and expressed support for the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Leo spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday in his first confirmed conversation with a world leader. According to Zelenskyy, the Pope offered to facilitate peace negotiations.
Zelenskyy is expected to attend the Pope's inauguration mass on 18 May in St Peter’s Square, with his chief of staff Andriy Yermak confirming that side meetings could take place during the visit.
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace t...
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to ...
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday it had targeted a U.S. early-warning radar system in Bahrain, raising fresh co...
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks while the United States continues to work towards what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to a strategic level in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday (12 November).
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than 24,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on treason charges, after prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops more than a thousand migrants who are walking north towards the United States, warning that they will be denied entry.
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