Pope Leo XIV Urges End to Global Conflicts in First Easter Urbi et Orbi Address

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first Easter Urbi et Orbi address on Sunday, April 5, 2026, calling on world leaders to choose peace through dialogue and urging those who carry weapons to lay them down, as the US-Israeli war on Iran entered its second month. Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica before , the first US-born pope delivered a message that stood in direct contrast to the posture of American, Israeli, and Iranian leaders. „Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace. Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them.” — Pope Leo XIV via The Irish Times Leo also warned against a growing societal numbness to conflict, saying the world was becoming indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. He announced a prayer vigil for peace to be held on April 11 at St. Peter's Basilica. The square was decorated with white roses and spring perennials, and Leo greeted the global faithful in 10 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and Latin, reviving a practice his predecessor had let lapse.

Leo breaks with tradition, names no specific wars In a notable departure from recent papal practice, Leo did not explicitly name any country or conflict in his Easter address, a shift from the formula he himself had followed during his Christmas blessing. The traditional Urbi et Orbi format has long included a litany of named conflicts, and no immediate explanation was offered for the change. Instead, Leo quoted his predecessor Pope Francis, invoking the concept of the "globalization of indifference" — a phrase Francis had used to describe the world's collective failure to respond to suffering. Leo acknowledged ongoing violence in Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Middle East without singling out any party. He paid tribute to Pope Francis, whose final public appearance had been from the same loggia on Easter Sunday the previous year, hours before his death. Leo described Jesus as having been "entirely nonviolent" in the face of suffering, framing the resurrection as a model for peace-seeking. According to the BBC, Leo had also made a rare direct appeal to President Donald Trump earlier in the week, urging the US president to find an "off-ramp" to end the conflict with Iran.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago on September 14, 1955, was elected pope on May 8, 2025, becoming the first US-born pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church. His predecessor, Pope Francis, died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, the day after delivering his own final Easter address from St. Peter's Square. The US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, 2026, with airstrikes that killed then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The conflict has since drawn repeated condemnation from Leo, who has used a series of Holy Week addresses to warn against indifference to war and suffering.

Trump threatens Iran strikes as White House pushes back on pope The Easter address came as President Trump threatened to bomb Iranian energy, water, and oil infrastructure if no deal was reached by Tuesday to open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been throttled during the conflict. The New York Times reported that new Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon were also underway as Leo delivered his address. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had defended the administration's stance the previous Monday, after Leo's Palm Sunday homily stated that Jesus "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them." „We've seen presidents, we've seen the leaders of the Department of War, and we've seen our troops go to prayer during the most turbulent times in our nation's history.” — Karoline Leavitt via Axios Leavitt, who is Catholic, added that she saw nothing wrong with military leaders or the president calling on Americans to pray for service members. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who serves as head of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that war is "always" a last resort and acknowledged the difficulty of the administration's position. „I do think that it's hard to cast this war, you know, as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.” — Timothy Broglio via Axios

Leo's stance marks a shift from his earlier, more deliberate public posture According to the New York Times, Leo had until recently opted for a more deliberate and measured public stance after 12 years of Pope Francis' outspoken papacy. The war in Iran has drawn him into increasingly direct commentary, particularly after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Americans to pray "every day, on bended knee" for a military victory in the Middle East "in the name of Jesus Christ." Leo and US Roman Catholic leaders have voiced moral opposition to Trump administration policies on both the Iran war and immigration, according to Axios. The pope's Easter homily urged believers not to feel numbed by the scale of global conflicts but to work actively for reconciliation. In his Saturday night Easter vigil sermon, Leo had already pressed the same theme, calling on the faithful to resist indifference. His announcement of the April 11 peace vigil at St. Peter's Basilica signaled an intent to sustain the moral pressure beyond the Easter weekend. The crowd in St. Peter's Square responded with cheers and applause when Leo appeared on the balcony, with thousands of phones raised simultaneously, according to the New York Times.