Pope at the Angelus expressed his closeness to Asia, ‘tested by recent natural disasters’
Pope Leo XIV spoke about the peoples of South and Southeast Asia hit by Cyclone Ditwah, urging the faithful to support them "with gestures of solidarity." Among the faithful, a sign read: "Sri Lanka is sinking. Don't leave us alone." Regarding his recent visit to Turkey and Lebanon, the pontiff said that it “teaches us that peace is possible, and that Christians [. . .] can contribute to building it up.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV spoke this morning after the Angelus expressing his closeness “to the people of South and Southeast Asia, sorely tested by recent natural disasters."
The pontiff offered his prayers for the “victims, for the families who mourn their loss and for those who provide assistance,” after the devastation wrought by Cyclone Ditwah, exacerbated by irresponsible human intervention such as uncontrolled deforestation.
Leo went on to urge support for “our brothers and sisters in those regions with gestures of solidarity,” while among the faithful in St. Peter's Square, someone held up a banner that read: “AFTER FLOOD SRI LANKA NEEDS YOU SRI LANKA AFFONDA NON LASCATECI SOLI (SRI LANKA IS SINKING. DON'T LEAVE US ALONE)”.
From the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the pope also spoke about his first apostolic journey, from 27 November to 2 December 2025, during which he celebrated the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, in Turkey, together with Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
This meeting followed in the footsteps of Leo’s predecessors. In fact, “Today is the 60th anniversary of the Common Declaration between Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch Athenagoras, which put an end to the mutual excommunications,” the pope said. “We give thanks to God and renew our dedication to journeying towards the full visible unity of all Christians”.
The visit in Turkey provided him with an opportunity to meet the local “Catholic community: through patient dialogue and service to those who suffer, they witness to the Gospel of love and the logic of God who manifests himself in littleness,” he said.
In his speeches, Leo XIV spoke precisely about the "logic of littleness”, emphasising the vitality of Christian minorities, who are “the true strength of the Church."
After the Angelus, the pope turned to Lebanon, a "mosaic of coexistence," a country rich in diverse testimonies.
“I met people who announce the Gospel by welcoming refugees, visiting the imprisoned, and sharing food with those in need,” he told the faithful in St Peter.
“I was comforted by the sight of so many people in the street who came to greet me. And I was likewise touched by the meeting with the relatives of the victims of the explosion in the port of Beirut. The Lebanese people were waiting for a word and a presence of consolation, but it was they who comforted me with their faith and their enthusiasm!”
The topic of peace also accompanied the pontiff first to the threshold between Asia and Europe, and then to the turbulent Middle East.
“[A]ll that has happened in these recent days in Türkiye and Lebanon teaches us that peace is possible, and that Christians in dialogue with men and women of other faiths and cultures can contribute to building it up. Let us not forget that peace is possible!” Leo said.
Before the Angelus recitation, the pope gave his reflections about today's Gospel reading, the second Sunday of Advent. In the passage from the Evangelist Matthew (Mt 3:1-12), "the coming of the Kingdom of God" is announced via Jesus’s “precursor," John the Baptist.
Leo XIV said that with the words of the Our Father, "Thy kingdom come," we recognise “that the course of history is not already written by the powerful people of this world.”
Turning to “the new thing that God has in store for us,” the pontiff said, “Let us, then, put our thoughts and energy at the service of God who came not to reign over us, but rather to free us. This is the ‘gospel’, the truly good news that motivates and draws us in”.
The pontiff noted that John the Baptist, who used a "severe" tone, was amazed by the "meekness" and "mercy" with which Jesus manifested himself. Isaiah, he added, compares him to a shoot, “an image not of power or destruction, but of birth and newness.”
“Each one of us can think of a similar surprise that has happened to us in life,” the pope said. This “is what the Church experienced in the Second Vatican Council, which concluded exactly sixty years ago.”
.png)
07/10/2025 18:04
