Overview
- Pope Leo XIV, speaking in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, called on those with weapons and the power to start wars to choose peace through dialogue as about 50,000 people listened.
- He broke with recent practice by not listing specific conflicts and warned of a growing “globalization of indifference,” a phrase he credited to Pope Francis.
- The pope set a next step by inviting the public to a prayer vigil for peace at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 11.
- News outlets contrasted his message with President Trump’s profanity-laced threats to intensify strikes on Iran the same morning, as the U.S. military’s Catholic archbishop said on TV that war is always a last resort and not something God sponsors.
- Easter worship in Jerusalem was curtailed by security limits on gatherings, with Christian and Jewish rites scaled back, underscoring the human toll and urgency behind the pope’s plea.