Pope: Ceasefire between the United States and Iran a 'sign of living hope'
Speaking at the end of the general audience, Leo XIV said that, “Only through negotiations can we reach an end to the war." He called for "dialogue" to become a tool for conflict resolution around the world. He also renewed his invitation to join a prayer vigil for peace in St Peter's next Saturday at 6 pm. In his catechesis on holiness, he described the latter as a gift that binds every baptised person.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – This morning, at the end of the general audience, Leo XIV welcomed with relief the two-week truce reached by the United States and Iran, calling it a “sign of living hope" amid the senselessness of war and warmongering rhetoric.
Last night, from Castel Gandolfo, the pontiff had called Trump's threat against Iranian civilisation "unacceptable”, noting this morning from the steps of St Peter's that, “Only through negotiations can we reach an end to the war”.
It is precisely the path of dialogue that the pope urges, “Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them,” he said on Easter Sunday. "I urge you to accompany this time of delicate diplomatic work with prayers, hoping that a willingness to engage in dialogue may become the instrument for resolving other conflicts in the world," he said today.
“I renew my invitation to all to join in,” Leo said regarding the upcoming prayer vigil for peace in St Peter's Basilica next Saturday.
In the catechesis read at the opening of the audience, the pontiff continued his series of reflections on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, focusing today's address again on the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, touching especially on the theme of “Holiness and the evangelical counsels in the Church" (see 1 Thess 4:1-3).
As usual, the catechesis was summarised and translated into various languages for the 30,000 pilgrims gathered in a bright St Peter's Square, bathed in a cloudless blue sky.
Lumen Gentium dedicates an entire chapter, the fifth, to the "universal vocation to holiness of all the faithful”. According to the document, holiness “is not a privilege for the few, but a gift that requires every baptized person to strive for the perfection of charity,” Leo said.
Charity is "the heart of holiness," and represents the "fullness of love for God and neighbor," he added, noting that martyrdom is the "highest level of holiness." In fact, “the Council text teaches that every believer must be ready to confess Christ even unto blood, as has always been the case and continues to be so today,” he stressed.
This “readiness to bear witness” is accompanied by the Sacraments, which are “nourishment that fosters a holy life, assimilating every person to Christ”. Ultimately though, holiness is “His gift”, evinced “every time we receive it with joy and respond to it with commitment.”
The pope said that Lumen gentium “describes the holiness of the Catholic Church as one of her constitutive characteristics, to receive in faith”, but this does not mean that the Church is holy “in a full and perfect sense”.
“The sad reality of sin in the Church, that is, in all of us, invites each person to carry out a serious change of life,” the pontiff acknowledged. For this reason, there is a mission to be fulfilled daily: conversion.
Holiness "concerns the very essence of Christian life, both personal and communal," Leo explained. And a "decisive role" in this regard is the gift of consecrated life, which Lumen Gentium identifies in Chapter 6 as a "prophetic sign of the new world”.
Poverty, chastity, and obedience are “evangelical counsels” that represent "signs of the Kingdom of God." Such virtues do not “shackle freedom”, but are “liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit”.
For the pontiff, “By conforming to this style of life, consecrated persons bear witness to the universal vocation of holiness of the entire Church, in the form of radical discipleship.”
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04/03/2026 16:15
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