Pope Leo VIX has used his first social media posts to urge world leaders not to go to war.
Robert Prevost, the pope originally from Chicago, aged 69, posted several hopeful messages on his X account on Wednesday, emphasizing peace and faith. This came just days after he delivered a concise message to America.
‘Peace be with you all! This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd,’ his first tweet read.
‘I would like this greeting of peace to echo in your hearts, within your families, and among all people, no matter where they are, in every nation and across the world.’
An hour later, he added a post paying homage to the last pope who chose the name Leo, sparking some speculation about whether he selected the name to honor past Popes Leo, who were known for their strong stances on social issues.
‘Over a century ago, Pope Leo XIII noted that ‘the preservation of the Eastern rites is more important than is realized,” he wrote. ‘Let us embrace the appeal to safeguard and promote the Christian East, especially in the diaspora.’
Pope Leo pointed his opening posts to ongoing conflicts around the world, calling for peace as wars in Ukraine and Gaza and India rage around the world.
‘There is so much violence and so many wars in our world!’ he wrote.
‘Amid this horror that should provoke outrage—as people die in the name of military conquest—stands the call of Christ, who repeats: ‘Peace be with you!”
Pope Leo VIX has issued his first social media posts since becoming the new head of the Vatican as he urged world leaders to avoid going to war
Pope Leo continued on his X account: ‘The ancient, yet ever new spiritualities of the Christian East offer a healing balm.
‘They merge an awareness of human misery with awe for divine mercy, so that our lowliness never leads to despair but invites us to welcome grace.’
He said in another post minutes later: ‘Christ’s peace is not the silence of the tomb after a conflict, and it is not the result of subjugation.
‘Peace is a gift that gazes at others and renews their lives. Let us pray for this peace, which is reconciliation, forgiveness, and courage to turn the page and start again.’
The pope went on to offer to help world leaders meet to negotiate peace, after the Vatican played host to a historic meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Pope Francis’ funeral last month.
‘The Holy See is willing to help enemies meet, so they may look each other in the eye and so people may be given back the dignity they deserve: the dignity of peace,’ Leo said.
‘With heart in hand, I say to the leaders of nations: let us meet; let us dialogue; let us negotiate.’
‘War is never inevitable,’ he concluded in a final post.
‘Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them. Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.’
The posts come days after Pope Leo was asked by a NewsNation reporter if he had any ‘message for the United States.’
Prevost answered back that he had ‘many’ messages for his homeland, in what some perceived as a pointed message to Donald Trump.
It would not be out of character for the new pope to fire a broadside at the president, as he has previously criticized the Trump administration from his private X account.
Pope Leo said earlier this week he had ‘many’ messages for the United States, which some took as a broadside against the Trump administration, who the new pope had previously criticized on his private social media
The 69-year-old has shared a number of posts criticizing the Trump administration, including one that address Catholic JD Vance’s stance on immigration
His last retweet, on April 14, slams the administration’s deportation of undocumented migrant and Maryland father-of-three Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 30, to El Salvador.
The post reads: ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?’
The 69-year-old also shared several articles that address Catholic JD Vance’s stance on immigration. One of them is titled: ‘JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.’
Pope Leo also shared a post in 2018 that read: ‘There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.’
