Pope Leo XIV urges Peace

Palm Sunday: “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of peace; God who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.”

Chrism Mass: “Good cannot come from abuse of power. The poor, imprisoned, rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing he brings a new creation to light.”

Mass of the Lord’s Supper “We tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, and great when we are feared. In contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service, and love.”

Good Friday: The meditations for the Way of the Cross, presided by the Pope, were written by Fr Francesco Patton, a Franciscan who served in the Holy Land. He retraced the path walked by Jesus among those who shared his faith and those “who deride or insult him,” while emphasizing that “such is the reality of our daily life.”

Easter Vigil: Leo XIV urged the creation of a “new world of peace and unity,” starting from humanity’s failures, as he referred to the sea through which God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, an element that the Pope described as a “gateway to a new life of freedom,” but also “a place of death.”

Easter Sunday “Urbi et Orbi” “We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.” Instead, he pointed to how “the power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent,” and the battles of the world should be overcome with this example of Easter, through hands that embrace and that do not take up arms. This plea also reverberated in the appeal Leo XIV addressed to world leaders last Tuesday in Castel Gandolfo: “Come back to the table, to dialogue. Let’s look for solutions to problems; let’s look for ways to reduce the amount of violence that we’re promoting so that peace—especially at Easter—might reign in our hearts.”