“God rejects war.” And no one can use Him to justify conflicts, because the “King of peace” does not listen to the prayers of those whose hands are “full of blood”. During the Mass of Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord on March 29 at the Vatican, the words of Leo XIV resonated as a firm warning addressed to all those responsible for a world in flames. On Saint Peter’s Square, decorated with palms and olive branches, the Sovereign Pontiff presided over the Eucharistic celebration, preceded by the traditional procession commemorating the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Before the forty thousand people present and those who followed the ceremony through the media, the Bishop of Rome reaffirmed that on the Cross, with Jesus, “we hear the cries of those who are defeated, of those who are without hope, of those who are sick, of those who are alone”. Above all, “we hear the groan of pain of all those oppressed by violence and of all the victims of war.” Hence this invocation, similar to a cry in the silence of Saint Peter’s Square: “God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your arms, remember that you are brothers!” The wish for a reconciled world also returned during the Angelus prayer, guided by the Sovereign Pontiff before the final blessing of the Mass. In the address which introduced the Marian prayer, the Pope expressed his solidarity “with the Christians of the Middle East, who are suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict.”
