On his first Sunday appearance as pope, Leo XIV made a passionate appeal for peace and an end to the armed conflicts in the world, especially in Ukraine and Gaza, and cried out, “Never again war!”

At this early stage of Leo XIV’s pontificate, the text is a “must read” for Catholics. Here are three notable takeaways.

“I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council,” Pope Leo said.

Pope Leo XIV picked one of the most common names in history for a pope. But it is a name with great resonance in modern church history, and one whose selection suggests quite a bit about what the reign of the new pontiff might be like.

The late pope’s attention to geographic detail led to what was described as the most diverse conclave in the history of the church.