Leo XIV urges Thailand and Cambodia ‘to immediately cease fire and resume dialogue’
At the general audience in St Peter's Square, the pope appealed to the two Southeast Asian countries once again embroiled in fighting. In his weekly catechesis, he reflected on death and its "pedagogical value", despite today’s tendency to remove it. Leo also warned against transhumanism, which theorises the prolongation of life through technology, asking: “could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV issued a strong appeal this morning to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, urging them to resume dialogue, after fighting broke out again three days ago over disputed areas along their 800-kilometre shared border.
As a result of the violence, more than half a million people have fled the shelling and air strikes with at least a dozen people reported dead in both countries.
Speaking at the end of the general audience, the pontiff said: “I am deeply saddened by the news of the renewed conflict along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, which has claimed civilian lives and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. I express my closeness in prayer to these dear peoples, and I call on the parties to immediately cease fire and resume dialogue.”
Previously, in his Jubilee catechesis held in a sunny St Peter's Square, in front of thousands of pilgrims, the pope spoke about the “The Pasch of Jesus Christ: the final answer to the question of our death.”
For Leo XIV, death “seems to be the most natural and at the same time most unnatural event that exists. It is natural, because every living being on earth dies. It is unnatural, because the desire for life and eternity that we all feel for ourselves and for the people we love makes us see death as a sentence, as a ‘contradiction’.”
The pontiff noted that many ancient peoples developed rituals and practices “to accompany and to recall those who journeyed towards the supreme mystery.” Things are different today with death treated as “a sort of taboo, an event to keep at a distance; something to be spoken of in hushed tones, to avoid disturbing our sensibilities and our tranquillity.”
Citing Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, he explained that death has a “pedagogical value”. In fact, “To know that it exists, and above all to reflect on it, teaches us to choose what we really want to make of our existence. Praying, in order to understand what is beneficial in view of the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous that instead binds us to ephemeral things, is the secret to living authentically”.
Leo XIV also mentioned the anthropological visions that today promise immanent immortality and theorise the prolongation of earthly life through technology.
“This is the transhuman scenario,” he explained, “which is making its way into the horizon of the challenges of our time. Could death really be defeated by science? But then, could science itself guarantee us that a life without death is also a happy life?”
In reality, “The event of the Resurrection of Christ reveals to us that death is not opposed to life, but rather is a constitutive part of it, as the passage to eternal life,” Leo said.
“The Risen One has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love. Thus, he has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; he has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions.”
Thanks to Jesus, “who died and rose again for love, with Saint Francis we can call death our ‘sister’. Awaiting it with the sure hope of the Resurrection preserves us from the fear of disappearing forever and prepares us for the joy of life without end.”
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04/09/2025 15:44
30/07/2025 17:45
