Newly elected Pope Leo XIV on Sunday delivered his first message to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City when he welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached between India and Pakistan, amid tensions escalating between the two warring neighbours following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Reacting to the deal reached between the two nuclear-armed countries that have fought multiple wars since they came to existence in 1947, Pope said: “I hope that, through the upcoming negotiations, a lasting agreement may soon be reached.”
Gaza
He said he felt deeply pained by seeing the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
“Let the fighting cease immediately, let humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population, and may all hostages be released,” he said.
Israel invaded Gaza after the Hamas group targeted the West Asian country and killed 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage during their October 7, 2023 attack.
Ukraine
Pope Leo XIV said he carried in his heart the sufferings of the Ukrainian people.
He said every initiative should be taken to reach a true, just, and lasting peace in the region.
He remarked at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine, aiming to end the bloody three-year war.
‘Never Again War’
In his message sent to world leaders, the Pope said, “In today’s dramatic context of a third world war fought piecemeal … I too appeal to the powerful of the world by repeating these ever-relevant words: never again war!”
He recalled that May 8 marked the 80th year of the completion of the Second World War, which had left 60 million people dead.
New Pope
US Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected in a surprise choice as the new leader of the Catholic Church on May 8, taking the name Leo XIV, becoming the first American-born pontiff.
He is the new leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics.
