Pope Leo XIV thanked on Sunday the work done by some Catholic associations “committed to solidarity towards the population of the Gaza Strip” and said that “whoever really loves for peace.”
“With you and with the shepherds of the churches in the Holy Land I repeat: there is no future based on violence, forced exile, revenge. Peoples need peace. Who really works for peace,” said the Pontiff during the Angelus this Sunday.
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Asomed to the balcony of his private study in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father praised the work they are doing in favor of peace in Gaza these initiatives.
“I am above all to the representatives of various Catholic associations committed to solidarity towards the population of the Gaza Strip. Dear, I appreciate their initiative and many others that, throughout the Church, express closeness to the brothers and sisters who suffer in that martyred earth,” said the Holy Father.
Last week a group of priests and religious launched an international network in Italy with the aim of denouncing “unjustified violence against the Palestinian population”, asking for “international law” respect and organizing prayer and other events to help the Palestinian population.
Under the name “Priests against Genocide”, this initiative already has more than 500 accessions worldwide, according to the organizers themselves.
In addition, before the angelus prayer, the Holy Father invited the faithful to reflect on the administration of material goods and, more deeply, on how each person manages the gift of one’s life.
“We are not owners of our life” or the “goods we enjoy”
Inspired by the parabola of the unfaithful administrator (Lk 16,1-13), the Pontiff stressed: “We are not owners of our life or the assets we enjoy; everything has been given to us as a gift for the Lord and he has trusted this heritage to our care, to our freedom and responsibility.”
The Pope explained that the parable presents the image of an administrator called by his lord to account for his management.
Next, Leo XIV highlighted the importance of this teaching and assured that one day we will also be called to “give account of how we have administered to ourselves, our property and the resources of the earth, both before God and before men, society and, above all, before those who will come after us.”
Commenting on the attitude of the administrator, the Pontiff said that the parabola administrator, “even in the management of the dishonest wealth of this world, finds a way to have friends, leaving the loneliness of selfishness itself.”
That is why he assured that Christians, who live in the light of the Gospel, must “use the assets of the world and our own life thinking about true wealth, which is friendship with the Lord and with the brothers.”
“How are we managing material goods, the resources of the earth and our own life that God has entrusted to us?” He questioned.
The venom of the competition “often generates conflicts”
Thus, the Pope stressed that if the criterion of selfishness is followed, “putting wealth in the first place and thinking only of ourselves”, this ends up isolating “of others” and spreading “the poison of a competition that often generates conflicts.”
The Pontiff proposed instead to recognize everything we have as a gift from God and use it as an instrument of sharing.
“Use it to create networks of friendship and solidarity, to build good, to build a more fair, more equitable and more fraternal world,” he said before entrusting this intention to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
“Let’s pray to the Holy Virgin, to intercede for us and help us manage what the Lord entrusts us, with justice and responsibility,” he concluded.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.