On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, Pope Leo XIV gave a speech to representatives of Christian churches, major religions and civil society actors in the framework of the “International Meeting for Peace”, promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio.

In his address at the Colosseum, the Pope stressed that conflicts persist “wherever there is life” and warned that war does not bring solutions: “Peace is a permanent path of reconciliation.”

The Pope thanked those present for their decision to pray together for peace, stressing that prayer “opens the heart” and is a source of reconciliation: “Those who do not pray abuse religion, even to kill.”

In that context of common prayer, he evoked the “spirit of Assisi,” alluding to the historic 1986 meeting convened by then-Saint Paul VI and continued by his successor. The address expressly linked that meeting with the 60th anniversary of the conciliar declaration  Nostra Aetate, promulgated on October 28, 1965, which fostered a new relationship between the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions.

Hours earlier, at the celebration entitled “Walking Together in Hope,” held in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, the same Pope delivered a message on  Nostra Aetate. Leo XIV affirmed that the seed planted six decades ago has grown “into a mighty tree… offering shelter and bearing the rich fruits of understanding, friendship, cooperation, and peace.”

The Pope reiterated that dialogue is not merely a strategy, but “a way of life, a journey of the heart that transforms all those involved.” He also commemorated the “martyrs for dialogue”—people of various faiths who gave their lives in the fight against violence and hatred—and urged religious leaders to assume “a sacred responsibility”: to liberate people from prejudice, anger, and hatred, and to guide them to be prophets of our time, denouncing violence and injustice.

In his address at the peace meeting, the Pope maintained that rulers have an “unavoidable” duty before God: to put an end to war, because “peace is the priority of any policy.”

The double summons —the meeting for peace and the commemoration of  Nostra Aetate— highlights the urgency that the Pope attributes to joint work between religions, prayer and ethical commitment in a world marked by conflicts, fragmentation and a “globalization of powerlessness” that must be replaced by a “culture of reconciliation”.

In summary, Pope Leo XIV called for the world not to become accustomed to war, for religions not to become instruments of division, and for fraternity to be lived as a concrete truth: “All peoples form one community, they have the same origin.”