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June 7, 2025
My heart is close to all those who are suffering due to conflict and violence throughout the world. In particular, I pray for those affected by the clashes along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, especially displaced children and families. May the Prince of Peace inspire everyone to seek dialogue and reconciliation.
I also pray for the victims of violence in southern Syria.
I am following with great concern the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the civilian population is suffering from severe hunger and remains exposed to violence and death. I renew my heartfelt appeal for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and the full respect of humanitarian law.
Every human person possesses an inherent dignity, bestowed by God himself. I urge all parties involved in conflicts to recognize this dignity and to end every action that violates it. I call for negotiations aimed at securing a future of peace for all peoples, and for the rejection of anything that might jeopardize it.
I entrust to Mary, Queen of Peace, the innocent victims of conflicts and those leaders who have the power to resolve them.
I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and gravely wounded others. I pray for the victims, Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud, and I am particularly close to their families and to all the parishioners. Sadly, this act adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza.
I again call for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.
To our beloved Middle Eastern Christians, I say: I deeply sympathise with your feeling that you can do little in the face of this grave situation. You are in the heart of the Pope and of the whole Church. Thank you for your witness of faith. May the Virgin Mary, woman of the Levant, dawn of the new Sun that has risen in history, protect you always and accompany the world towards the dawn of peace.
This morning, in his residence at Castel Gandolfo, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV spoke by telephone with His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, following yesterday’s military attack by the Israeli army that struck the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, killing three people and injuring others, including some seriously.
During the conversation, the Holy Father repeated his appeal for a renewed push for negotiations, a ceasefire and an end to the war. He again expressed his concern about the tragic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose children, elderly and sick are paying an agonizing price.
Finally, His Holiness reiterated the urgent need to protect places of worship and, especially, the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel.
Last Sunday, a heinous terrorist attack was carried out against the Greek Orthodox community in the Church of Mar Elias in Damascus. We entrust the victims to God’s mercy and we offer our prayers for the wounded and their families. I say to the Christians of the Middle East: I am close to you! The whole Church is close to you!
This tragic event recalls the profound fragility that Syria still faces after years of conflict and instability. It is therefore essential that the international community not ignore this country, but continue to offer support through gestures of solidarity and a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation.
We continue to follow carefully and with hope the developments in Iran, Israel and Palestine. The words of the prophet Isaiah resound with urgent relevance: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Is 2:4). May this voice, which comes from the Most High, be heard! May the wounds caused by the bloody actions of recent days be healed. Let us reject arrogance and revenge, and instead resolutely choose the path of dialogue, diplomacy and peace.
Sisters and brothers, let us continue to pray that weapons may be silenced everywhere and that peace may be achieved through dialogue.
Alarming news continues to emerge from the Middle East, especially from Iran. Against this tragic backdrop, which includes Israel and Palestine, people’s daily suffering, especially in Gaza and the other territories, where the need for adequate humanitarian aid is becoming increasingly urgent, risks being forgotten.
Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace. This is a cry that requires responsibility and reason, and it must not be drowned out by the din of weapons or the rhetoric that incites conflict. Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable chasm. There are no “distant” conflicts when human dignity is at stake.
War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples, which take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, or stolen futures.
May diplomacy silence the weapons! May nations chart their futures with works of peace, not with violence and bloodstained conflicts!
The Church is brokenhearted at the cry of pain rising from places devastated by war, especially Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza. We must never get used to war! Indeed, the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected. Today, when “every kind of weapon produced by modern science is used in war, the savagery of war threatens to lead the combatants to barbarities far surpassing those of former ages” (Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution, 79). For this reason, in the name of human dignity and international law, I reiterate to those in positions of responsibility the frequent warning of Pope Francis: War is always a defeat! And that of Pope Pius XII: “Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war.”
Now, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us ask from the Holy Spirit the gift of peace. First of all, peace in our hearts, for only a peaceful heart can spread peace in the family, society and international relations. May the Spirit of the risen Christ open paths of reconciliation wherever there is war; may he enlighten those who govern and give them the courage to make gestures of de-escalation and dialogue.
May the Virgin Mary bless families everywhere and sustain them in their trials. I think especially of those families suffering due to war in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in other parts of the world. May the Mother of God help us to press forward together on the path of peace.
Appeal: In these days, my thoughts turn often to the Ukrainian people, affected by serious new attacks against civilians and infrastructure. I assure all the victims, in particular children and families, of my closeness and my prayer. I strongly reiterate my appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace. I ask everyone to join in prayer for peace in Ukraine and wherever there is suffering because of war.
In the Gaza Strip, the cry of mothers, of fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of children and who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and safer shelter from bombing, rises ever more intensely to the sky. I renew my appeal to the leaders: cease fire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us.
With these sentiments, our prayer embraces all those peoples suffering because of war. Let us implore courage and perseverance for those engaged in dialogue and in the sincere search for peace.
In the joy of faith and communion, we cannot forget our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war. In Gaza, the surviving children, families and elderly are reduced to starvation. In Myanmar, new hostilities have cut short innocent young lives. Finally, war-torn Ukraine awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.
The immense tragedy of the Second World War ended eighty years ago, on 8 May, after having claimed sixty million victims. In today’s dramatic scenario of a piecemeal third world war, as Pope Francis stated many times, I too address the world’s leaders, repeating the ever-timely appeal: “Never again war!”.
I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people. May everything possible be done to reach an authentic, just and lasting peace, as soon as possible. Let all the prisoners be freed and the children return to their own families.
I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip: may there be an immediate ceasefire! Let humanitarian aid be provided to the stricken civil population, and let all the hostages be freed.
On the other hand, I have welcomed with satisfaction the announcement of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and I hope that through the upcoming negotiations, a lasting accord may be reached soon.