ROME – Pope Leo XIV said that the Holy See is ready to mediate between warring parties in pursuit of global peace, during an audience at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for the Jubilee of Eastern Catholic Churches.

“I will make every effort for peace to spread,” said the American pontiff.

“The Holy See is at disposal so that enemies can meet and look each other in the eye, so that people everywhere can regain the hope and dignity they deserve—the dignity of peace,” he said.

Pope Leo urged world leaders to prioritize dialogue over division.

“The peoples want peace, and I, with my heart on my hand, say to the leaders: let’s meet, let’s dialogue, let’s negotiate.

“War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced—they do not solve problems, they worsen them. History remembers those who sow peace, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to be hated, but human beings to speak with. Let us reject the black-and-white narratives that divide the world into good and evil.”

Referencing Pope Francis’s description of Eastern Catholic communities as “martyr Churches,” he decried ongoing violence in the Holy Land, Ukraine, the Middle East, Tigray, and the Caucasus.

“How much violence!” he lamented. “From the horror and slaughter of so many young lives in the name of military conquest rises a call for peace—not just from the pope, but from Christ himself, who says, ‘Peace be with you.’ Let us pray for that peace—one rooted in reconciliation, forgiveness, and the courage to begin again.”

PNA/ANSA