VATICAN CITY:
Pope Leo XIV said he was happy to hear about the recent cease-fire in India-Pakistan and hoped that negotiations would lead to a lasting agreement between nuclear arms neighbors.
The new pope called on the great powers of the world for “No More War” in his first Sunday message at the crowd on Saint-Pierre square since his election as pontiff.
Pope Leo, elected on May 8, called for “authentic and sustainable peace” in Ukraine, a cease-fire in Gaza, and the release of all Israeli hostages held by the Hamas militant group.
Speaking in the fluid Italian, Leo also welcomed the recent fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan, negotiated overnight and said that he prayed to grant the “miracle of peace” to the world.
“No more war!” The Pope said, repeating a frequent call for the fiery the Pope Francis and noting the recent 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, during which some 60 million people were killed.
Leo said that today’s world lived “the dramatic scenario of a third world war fighting in the spot”, repeating again a sentence invented by François.
Tens of thousands of people on Saint-Pierre square and on the Via Della Conciliazione leading to the Vatican made applause to the call to peace on what was a joyful opportunity despite the solemn message of Leo.
The new pope said that he was carrying in his heart the “suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine”.
A few hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine aimed at putting an end to the bloody three -year war, Leo called for negotiations to reach an “authentic, fair and lasting peace”.
The Pope also said that he was “deeply saddened” by the war in Gaza, calling for an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian aid and release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
