US EditionPolitical Leaders Have Duty Before God to End War, Pope Says at Peace Meeting
Pope Leo XIV urged political leaders to embrace peace as a solemn duty before God during an interfaith prayer at Rome's Colosseum, marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.
- On Tuesday evening, Pope Leo XIV joined leaders at Rome’s Colosseum for a Meeting for Prayer for Peace, calling political leaders to shoulder a solemn duty before God.
- Drawing on the Assisi tradition launched after Saint John Paul II’s 1986 meeting, the ceremony recalled that legacy and coincided with the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate promulgated Oct. 28, 1965.
- The ceremony included a joint appeal lamenting war and rising inequalities and urging building bridges not walls, and 22 children handed a scroll tied with a sprig from an olive tree to leaders.
- After the service, the pope joined dozens of leaders representing Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikh and other faiths on a stage before the Arch of Constantine and renewed the Church’s call for reconciliation, dialogue and fraternity.
- Warning against the misuse of religion, he urged prayer as the remedy to violence and fanaticism, saying those who practice religion without prayer risk misusing it, even to killing, and called on religions as sources of ancient spiritualities to embrace dialogue and negotiation.
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Pope Leo XIV commemorates Nostra Aetate anniversary with interfaith celebrations
Vatican City, Oct 29, 2025 / 05:00 am Pope Leo XIV joined faith leaders on Tuesday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Church’s declaration on building relationships with non-Christian religions. Approximately 300 representatives [...]
Pope Leo XIV Commemorates Nostra Aetate Anniversary With Interfaith Celebrations
Vatican Media Approximately 300 representatives of world religions and cultures joined the Holy Father for an evening ecumenical prayer service for peace, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, on Oct. 28, 2025, at the Colosseum in Rome. In his remarks, the Pope urged people not to be indifferent to the 'cry of the poor and the cry of the earth' in their pursuits for peace in countries scarred by ongoing conflict and injustice.
On the day of the 60th anniversary of the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate, Pope Prevost participated alongside the leaders of the other faiths in the meeting in the "spirit of Assisi" promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio. "Whoever does not pray abuses of religion, even to kill. With bare hands raised to heaven and hands open to others we end the season of war and arrogance."
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