Pope Leo XIV Urges Religious Leaders in France to Promote Peace and European Unity
· World · The Independent, The Hindu, New York Times
Pope Leo XIV concluded his four-day visit to France on Monday with an interreligious meeting in Metz, near the borders of Luxembourg and Germany. Speaking at a conference center named for Robert Schuman, a founding father of European unity, the Pope urged Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, and Orthodox leaders to foster dialogue across borders. He warned that invoking God's name to justify violence profanes that name and called for the disarmament of hearts and words. Earlier on Sunday at Lourdes, he condemned France's new law permitting medically assisted dying as false compassion. His Mass on Paris's Place de la Concorde drew an estimated 800,000 people, and his charter flight from Lourdes to Metz received a French military fighter jet escort.
Why it matters
The Pope's appeal targets Europe's current challenges of war, migration, and polarization by invoking its post-war tradition of dialogue, directly addressing faith leaders who shape public discourse across the continent.
Read the original report — The Independent
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