Since he first appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of May 8, Pope Leo XIV has never ceased to call for peace in a world where warmongers continue to have the upper hand, causing death and destruction in Gaza and the Holy Land, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.
On Tuesday evening, Oct. 28, the pope issued yet another forceful appeal for peace, this time at Rome’s Colosseum and in the presence of representatives of the world’s main religions at an international meeting for peace organized by the Sant’Egidio community
He made his appeal as Israel resumed airstrikes in Gaza, breaking the Trump-brokered cease-fire, in reprisal for the killing of one of its soldiers by Hamas; Hamas denied involvement in the killing. The bombing left more than 104 dead, including 46 children and 20 women, and more than 250 injured, according to the Gaza Ministry for Health. The cease-fire is now back in force.
“The world is thirsting for peace. We need a true and sound era of reconciliation that puts an end to the abuse of power, displays of force and indifference to the rule of law,” Pope Leo said. “Enough of war, with all the pain it causes through death, destruction and exile!”
He thanked the religious leaders present from various Christian denominations and from the world’s major religions, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism, who had come to pray for peace in accordance with their respective traditions.
“We express not only our firm desire for peace but also our conviction that prayer is a powerful force for reconciliation,” he said. “Prayer is a movement of the spirit and an opening of the heart. It is not shouting words, displaying behavior or religious slogans against God’s creatures…. Prayer changes the course of history.”
The prayer for peace at the Colosseum was the closing ceremony of a three-day international meeting called “Daring Peace,” organized by Sant’Egidio. The Catholic lay community was founded by Andrea Riccardi, then a high school student, in 1968, who today welcomed Pope Leo to this final event.
In his address, the American-born pope recalled that the origins of this meeting go back to Oct. 27, 1986, when Pope John Paul II invited religious leaders from around the world to Assisi to pray for peace. That historic event “marked a turning point in interfaith relations,” he stated. Year after year since then, he noted that Sant’Egidio has organized similar meetings that continued the “spirit of Assisi,” creating a climate of friendship among religious leaders. He thanked Sant’Egidio and all the organizations, both Catholic and not, “that, often going against the current, keep this spirit alive.”
Pope Leo explained that “prayer in the ‘spirit of Assisi’ is based on the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration ‘Nostra Aetate,’ namely, the renewal of the relationship between the Catholic Church and other religions.” He recalled that that very day—Oct. 28—marked the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the declaration, which states clearly, “We cannot truly pray to God as Father of all if we treat any people as other than sisters and brothers, for all are created in God’s image.”
He recalled that Pope Francis, in his message to last year’s international meeting for peace, said: “We must keep religions from giving in to the temptation to become a means of fueling forms of nationalism, ethnocentrism and populism. Wars only escalate. Woe to those who try to drag God into taking sides in wars!”
Pope Leo joined his predecessor in repeating, “War is never holy; only peace is holy because it is willed by God!”
He added,
In the power of prayer, we must ensure that this period of history, marked by war and the arrogance of power, soon comes to an end, giving rise to a new era. We cannot allow this period to continue. It shapes the minds of people who grow accustomed to war as a normal part of human history. Enough! This is the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. Enough! Lord, hear our cry!
He called for “the culture of reconciliation” to “overcome the current globalization of powerlessness, which seems to tell us that another era is impossible.” And he reaffirmed that “dialogue, negotiation and cooperation are capable of addressing and resolving the tensions that arise in situations of conflict.”
Then, in words that appeared addressed to world leaders, and particularly those conducting war, Pope Leo said:
To put an end to war is a solemn duty before God incumbent on all those holding political responsibilities. Peace is the priority of all politics. God will ask an accounting of those who failed to seek peace or who fomented tensions and conflicts. He will call them to account for all the days, months and years of war.
As religious leaders, he said, “we make this heartfelt appeal to those in positions of government. We share the desire for peace for all peoples. We are the voice of those who are not heard and the voiceless. We must ‘dare peace.’”
Pope Leo told the religious leaders present: “Even if the world turns a deaf ear to this appeal, we are certain that God will hear our prayer and the cries of so many who suffer. God wants a world without war. He will free us from this evil!”
His appeal for peace concluded an international meeting that saw well-known personalities participate. The meeting included 22 panel discussions to discuss how to build peace in the conflict-ridden, polarized world of the 21st century. Speakers included Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella; Belgium’s Queen Mathilde; the grand imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb; the president of the European Conference of Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt; Kondo Koko, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, and Emilce Cuda, the secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Several cardinals participated in this event, including Matteo Zuppi, the first priest of the Sant’Egidio Community and president of the Italian bishops’ conference; Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa; Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseilles.
“Remembering Francis” was the title of a special interreligious panel that recalled what several speakers called “his prophetic and inspiring contribution to humanity.”
At the end of the ceremony, an announcement was made and greeted with great joy: The next international meeting for peace will be held in Assisi on the 40th anniversary of the first international meeting of religions for peace. Pope Leo is expected to attend.
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