On Solemnity of the Assumption, Leo XIV calls for end to "logic of conflict and weapons”

Today, 15 August, Assumption of Mary, from Castel Gandolfo the Pope speaks of “deaf and insensitive violence towards every movement of humanity” in the world. He calls for ‘not giving up hope’ on the day of the meeting between Trump and Putin on Ukraine. At the Angelus, he quotes Pius XII: never again ‘the destruction of human lives.’ In his homily: ‘God interrupts despair with brotherhood.’

Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNews) - ‘We must not resign ourselves to the logic of conflict and weapons prevailing,’ This is one of the messages that Pope Leo XIV delivered to the world from Castel Gandolfo - where he is spending a second period of summer rest until 19 August - on the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Faced with the spread of ‘violence that is increasingly deaf and insensitive to every movement of humanity,’ it is essential ‘not to [...] give up hope,’ he said today after reciting the Angelus with the faithful gathered in Piazza della Libertà. He thus recalled the theme that accompanies the Holy Year.

It is the ‘glorious examples of Mary’ that we must meditate on in order to ‘become ever more convinced of the value of human life,’ added the pontiff, quoting Pius XII, who proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption - ‘into heavenly glory in soul and body’ - in 1950, when the inhuman experience of the Second World War was still ‘burning’.

Thus, peace is inextricably linked to the most important Marian solemnity for the Catholic Church, which is celebrated today, 15 August. Pius XII hoped in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus that there would never again be ‘the destruction of human lives, giving rise to wars’.

'These words are ‘topical’, emphasised Leo XIV. They are remembered on the day when the leaders of Russia and the United States meet in Alaska: on the table is the fate of the war that is sweeping across Europe, in Ukraine.

The Mother of Jesus ‘shines as an icon of hope for her children on their pilgrimage through history’. Before reciting the Marian prayer, Pope Prevost also recalled the words of the ‘fathers’ of the Second Vatican Council. As did the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, who in the last canto of the Divine Comedy speaks of Mary as ‘a fountain of living hope’. The theme of the Jubilee returns - ‘Pilgrims of hope’.

The pilgrim needs ‘a beautiful, attractive goal that guides his steps and revives him when he is tired, that always rekindles desire and hope in his heart,’ explained Leo XIV. ‘On the journey of existence, this goal is God, infinite and eternal Love, fullness of life, peace, joy, and every good.’

And again: ‘When clouds come and the road becomes uncertain and difficult, let us lift our gaze, let us look to her, our Mother, and we will find the hope that does not disappoint.’

This morning, before appearing in Piazza della Libertà, the Pope presided over Holy Mass in the Pontifical Parish of St Thomas of Villanova (Castel Gandolfo). After the proclamation of today's Gospel (Lk 1:39-56) - the episode of the Visitation, in which ‘Mary arose and went in haste’ to the house of Zechariah, to her cousin Elizabeth; also the theme of the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon - the Pope said that ‘today we contemplate how God conquers death, never without us.’.

‘On the cross, trust won, love that sees what is not yet there won, forgiveness won.’ At that moment, ‘Mary was there, united with her Son,’ he continued. She represents us ‘when we do not flee,’ when we say our ‘yes.’ ‘This day of joy is a day that commits us to choose how and for whom to live,’ explained Pope Leo XIV.

In the passage from Luke's Gospel that the liturgy offers us today, Mary experiences a ‘crucial moment’ for her vocation. ‘It is beautiful to return to that moment on the day when we celebrate the culmination of her life,’ said the Pope.

The Magnificat ‘unleashes the light of all her days,’ he said. ‘A single day, that of her encounter with her cousin Elizabeth, contains the secret of every other day, of every other season.’ Just as it happened in that house, ‘the Resurrection also enters our world today.’ ‘The words and choices of death seem to prevail, but God's life interrupts despair through concrete experiences of fraternity, through new gestures of solidarity.’ Mary's song ‘strengthens the hope of the humble, the hungry, the hard-working servants of God.’

Sometimes, ‘human securities, a certain material well-being and that complacency that numbs consciences’ prevail in daily life, he added, causing faith to ‘grow old.’ The Church, however, is rejuvenated thanks to the Magnificat ‘of the poor and the humble.’

‘Even today, poor and persecuted Christian communities, witnesses of tenderness and forgiveness in places of conflict, peacemakers and bridge builders in a world in pieces are the joy of the Church,’ the pontiff continued. ‘Brothers and sisters, when in this life we “choose life” (cf. Dt 30:19), then in Mary, assumed into Heaven, we have reason to see our destiny.’