Pope Leo XIV celebrated his inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday and called for Catholics to keep in mind those suffering in Gaza, Ukraine, and Myanmar.
“In the joy of faith and communion, we cannot forget our brothers and sisters who suffer because of war. In Gaza, the surviving children, families, and the elderly are reduced to starvation,” Leo, the first US-born pope, said at the end of Mass before reciting the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) prayer.
“In Myanmar, new hostilities have cut short innocent young lives. Finally, war-torn Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace,” he added.
Since being elected pope on May 8, Leo has called for an end to all wars and has put an emphasis on spreading a message of peace.
“War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them,” the pontiff wrote on X last week. “Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.”
In his first Sunday address as pope, Leo called for peace in Gaza, an end to the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.
Leaders from around the world attended Leo’s inaugural Mass, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with the pope. Leo has been offering the Vatican as a potential venue for talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“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,” Leo said in an address to Eastern Catholics last week.
