Pope renews call for dialogue instead of war

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called on political leaders to strive to replace “violence of arms with the search for dialogue” wherever there are conflicts in the world, just hours before leaving for vacation.

“Peace is a longing for all peoples and it is the painful cry of those torn apart by war,” said the head of the Catholic Church at the end of the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

Leo XIV reiterated the call for peace and an end to armed conflicts, and defended the need for diplomatic solutions to the wars that afflict different regions of the world, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.

The appeal comes as attempts continue in both Ukraine and the Gaza Strip to reach a ceasefire that would lead to peace talks in both conflicts.

The Pope also mourned the deaths of 52 people in the floods in Texas, as well as an undetermined number of missing people, and sent condolences to the families, in particular those of the girls who were at a summer camp.

“We pray for them,” he said in an emotional message in English to the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The Chicago-born pontiff expressed “heartfelt condolences to all the families who lost loved ones, in particular the daughters who were at the summer camp during the catastrophe caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River.”

Texas authorities declined to give an exact number of missing people because of the large number of people from outside the region who were camping in the area for the July 4 festivities, which marks the United States' Independence Day.

Leo XIV will leave this Sunday afternoon for the Italian resort of Castel Gandolfo for a two-week vacation, resuming a tradition interrupted during the pontificate of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

“I hope that everyone can enjoy a holiday to renew their body and spirit,” he told the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.