Pope Leo XIV used his first Easter Sunday address to call on leaders to choose peace through dialogue rather than violence.
His messaging runs counter to that of Iranian, American and Israeli leaders, who have deployed violence and aggressive rhetoric during their spiraling conflict in the Middle East.
“Let those who have weapons lay them down!” said Leo, who is the first pope from the United States, in the traditional urbi et orbi blessing the papacy releases at Easter. “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!”
Leo did not address any world leaders by name, but his remarks can be read as a rebuke to several.
He spoke with sorrow about what he called the increasing globalization of indifference, in a nod to some of the final words of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died almost a year ago.
“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent,” Leo said. “Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow. Indifferent to the economic and social consequences they produce, which we all feel.”
He encouraged his followers to draw inspiration from the story of Easter, a day on which Christians celebrate their belief that Jesus came back to life having been brutally killed days earlier.
“The cross of Christ always reminds us of the suffering and pain that surround death and the agony it entails,” Leo said. “We are all afraid of death, and out of fear we turn away, preferring not to look. We cannot continue to be indifferent!”
