The true peace, often used as a motto, begins in our own hearts and communities, said Pope Leo XIV to a group of young adults from the Mediterranean region this Friday, September 5 in the Vatican.
In a speech pronounced in Italian and English, the Pope described young people as the “generation that imagines a better future and decides to build it. You are the symbol of a world that does not get carried away by indifference or complacency” but, he stressed, “he rides and works to transform evil into good.”
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Leo XIV met with around 50 members of the Mediterranean Youth Council, founded in 2022 and composed of young adults from European countries and the Middle East bathed by the Mediterranean Sea.
“Peace is on the agenda of international leaders, it is a matter of global debates, but unfortunately, it is often reduced to a simple slogan,” said the pontiff.
“What we need is to cultivate peace in our hearts and in our relationships, let it bloom in our daily actions, work for reconciliation in our homes, our communities, our schools and workplaces, in the church and among the churches.”
Being a peacemaker is not easy, said Pope León, and denounced the use of religious traditions to justify violence instead of bringing peace, fraternity, care of creation and openness to others.
“We need to reject these forms of blasphemy that dishonor the holy name of God, and do it through our way of life,” he said. “We are called to cultivate prayer and spirituality, together with action, as peace sources and meeting points between traditions and cultures.”
“For believers, the future is not walls and barbed wires, but of mutual acceptance,” he added.
The Pope encouraged young people not to surrender, even if someone does not understand or understand why they fight: “San Carlos de Foucauld said that God also uses winds against us to take us to port.”
“Do not be afraid: be they seeds of peace where seeds of hate and resentment grow; be weavers of unity where polarization and enmity prevail; be the voice of those who have no voice to ask for justice and dignity; be light and salt where the flame of faith and taste for life is turned off,” he said.
Translated by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA
Hannah Brockhaus
Hannah Brockhaus is correspondent in Rome by Catholic News Agency. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from the State University Truman in Missouri.