Pope Leo on Wednesday offered to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail”.
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The new US pontiff, who became head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics last week, also called on Christians living in the Middle East not to abandon their homes, in a speech to members of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
“Who, better than you, can sing a song of hope even amid the abyss of violence?” he told the packed Paul VI hall at the Vatican, noting that “from the Holy Land to Ukraine, from Lebanon to Syria, from the Middle East to Tigray and the Caucasus, how much violence do we see!”.
He urged them to pray for peace, adding: “For my part, I will make every effort so that this peace may prevail.
“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.
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“The peoples of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!”.