Pope: Holy See will not be silent bystander amid global inequality and war

Pope receives ambassadors' Letters of Credence. Image Vatican Media

Source: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday received the Letters of Credence of thirteen new Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, representing Uzbekistan, Moldova, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Liberia, Thailand, Lesotho, South Africa, Fiji, Micronesia, Latvia, and Finland.

Welcoming them during the Jubilee Year of Hope, he reminded them of its theme and highlighted its call to recover "the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God's gift of creation."

He linked this appeal to his first words as Bishop of Rome, when he invoked the greeting of the risen Christ, "Peace be with you," and renewed his invitation to work for what he has called an "unarmed and disarming peace."

Peace, he stressed, is "not merely the absence of conflict," but "an active and demanding gift… built in the heart and from the heart." It requires a commitment to renounce "pride and vindictiveness" and to resist "the temptation to use words as weapons." This vision, he said, becomes more urgent "as geopolitical tension and fragmentation continue to deepen in ways that burden nations and strain the bonds of the human family."

Turning to the consequences of global instability, Pope Leo XIV noted that "the poor and the marginalised suffer most from these upheavals."

Echoing Pope Francis, he reminded the diplomats that "the measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need."

He reaffirmed the concern expressed in his Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, that the world must not "avert its gaze from those who are easily rendered invisible by rapid economic and technological change."

Pope Leo stated that "the Holy See will not be a silent bystander to the grave disparities, injustices and fundamental human rights violations in our global community."

The Church's diplomacy, he added, is "consistently directed toward serving the good of humanity," attentive especially to "those who are poor, in vulnerable situations or pushed to the margins of society."

The Pope urged the newly accredited Ambassadors to join the Holy See in fostering renewed multilateral cooperation "at a moment when it is sorely needed," expressing his hope that together they might help the international community "lay the foundations for a more just, fraternal and peaceful world."

With the support of the Secretariat of State, he concluded, may your mission "open new doors of dialogue, foster unity and advance that peace for which the human family so ardently longs."