Vatican City, March 29 (LaPresse) – “We are more than ever close in prayer to the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a horrific conflict and, in many cases, cannot fully participate in the Rites of these holy days. Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today share in His suffering in a real way. Their ordeal challenges the conscience of all. We raise our supplication to the Prince of Peace, so that He may support the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths of reconciliation and peace.”
Thus spoke Pope Leo XIV during the Angelus. During the homily for the Palm Sunday celebration, the pontiff stated: “Jesus did not arm Himself, He did not defend Himself, He did not fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence, and instead of saving Himself, He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross, to embrace all the crosses planted in every time and place in human history. This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace. A God who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war, who does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war and rejects them, saying: ‘Even if you multiplied your prayers, I would not listen: your hands are dripping with blood.’”