Pope Leo XIV urged Christians around the world on Wednesday to participate in fasting and prayer for world peace on Friday, the commemoration of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In his message, the pope specifically named the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and the jihadist terror organization Hamas as situations desperately in need of impassioned Christian prayer. Pope Leo has focused heavily on praying for peace in both those conflicts and offered his mediation services repeatedly since being elected to lead the Catholic Church on Earth in May. The pope has also maintained communications with leaders of the involved countries, recently welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Vatican in July.
The political situation around the Russian invasion to Ukraine took what could become a meaningful turn last week when President Donald Trump welcomed Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to Alaska to discuss both improving relations between Moscow and Washington and paving a path to ending the conflict. Trump welcomed Zelensky and a group of western European leaders to the White House on Monday to discuss the results of the Putin summit and negotiate the preparation of an in-person meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
The pope announced plans to lead a day of fasting on August 22 during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday.
“Mary is the Mother of the faithful here on earth and is remembered as the Queen of Peace,” the pope said, according to Vatican News, urging Christians to engage in “a day of prayer and fasting” on Friday.
“I ask you”, he continued, “to include in your intentions the supplication for the gift of peace – a peace that is disarmed and disarming – for the whole world, especially for Ukraine and the Middle East.”
Pope Leo continued his calls for prayer towards peace on Thursday during an appearance at the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, an annual event in Rimini, Italy.
“Peace is not a spiritual utopia; it is a humble path made of daily gestures,” he told the assembled, urging them to “promote pathways of education in nonviolence, initiatives for mediation in local conflicts, and projects of welcome that transform the fear of the other into opportunities for encounter.”
“To serve the living God, we must abandon the idolatry of profit,” he instructed, “which has gravely compromised justice, the freedom to meet and exchange, the participation of all in the common good—and ultimately, peace itself.”
“A faith that distances itself from the desertification of the world, or that indirectly contributes to tolerating it, would no longer be true discipleship of Jesus Christ,” the pope continued.
Pope Leo has consistently addressed the situations in Gaza and Ukraine, but emphasized the power of prayer and hope, rather than directly advising on policy matters. On Tuesday, for example, Pope Leo answered a question about the negotiations regarding Ukraine by offering, “there is hope, but we still need to work hard, pray hard, and truly seek the way forward, to find peace.”
Hope for peace in Ukraine has become a prominent feature in international news this week following Trump’s in-person meeting with Vladimir Putin. That meeting – in Anchorage, Alaska – served as a display of America’s military might, as Putin strolled through rows of American fighter jets and Trump orchestrated a flyover by a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber as the two leaders shook hands.
Following that meeting, which both sides described as positive and productive, President Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Zelensky to the White House. Following his one-on-one meeting with Zelensky, the two leaders met with a large number of European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and French President Emmanuel Macron. The group reportedly agreed on creating a security framework to help end Russia’s hostilities and achieve long-term piece, but details of such a framework have not been confirmed publicly at press time. Trump told reporters shortly thereafter that the next step in the peace process would be getting Zelensky and Putin in the same room, and possibly a trilateral summit also including Trump.
Russian officials appeared to walk back enthusiasm for a peace deal on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters, addressing the discussion on “security guarantees,” that Russia would demand a say in the discussion and that European nations “understand perfectly well” that defining security guarantees against Russian aggression without Russian input was a “road to nowhere.”
Pope Leo has maintained communication with both Putin and Zelensky since he assumed the papacy. The pope made special mention of Ukraine during his first Sunday blessings as pontiff, calling for peace.
“I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,” he said. “Let everything possible be done to achieve genuine, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.”
In June, Pope Leo held a phone call with Putin in which he offered to have the Vatican mediate talks between the two countries.
“The pope made an appeal for Russia to make a gesture that would favor peace,” Holy See Press Office chief Matteo Bruni told reporters following the call, “emphasizing the importance of dialogue to create positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict.”
The call followed a similar phone call in May with Zelensky, which the Ukrainian president described as “very warm and truly substantive.”
“Ukraine wants to end this war and is doing everything to achieve that. We now await similar steps from Russia. I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote about the phone call at the time. “Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people. We agreed to stay in contact and plan in-person meeting in the near future.”
Zelensky visited the Vatican in July, engaging directly with the pope.
“I’m grateful for the meeting and a very substantive conversation with Pope Leo XIV. We value all the support and every prayer for peace in Ukraine,” Zelensky said following the meeting. “The proposal to hold meetings at the level of leaders at the Vatican remains open and entirely possible, with the goal of stopping Russian aggression and achieving a stable, lasting, and genuine peace.”
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