In an age where war, division, and isolation seem to dominate the headlines, Pope Leo XIV is calling Catholics, and all people of goodwill, to rediscover fraternity as the true path to peace. Meeting with participants at the World Meeting on Human Fraternity in Rome, the Pope reminded the faithful that we are “united by a strong and courageous ‘no’ to war, and a resounding ‘yes’ to peace and fraternity,” according to Vatican News.
This was not merely a diplomatic message, but a deeply spiritual one. Pope Leo pointed to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, warning that violence, no matter how ancient or widespread, “must never be accepted as ‘normal’”. Instead, he urged Catholics to live by the question God asks in Genesis: “Where is your brother?” This question, the Pope explained, is not simply a historical moment but “a principle of reconciliation” that should guide how we approach every aspect of our lives.
The Pope also challenged Catholics to look within and reject complacency. “Where are you in the ‘business’ of wars that shatter the lives of young people forced to take up arms; target defenseless civilians, children, women and elderly people…? Brother, sister, where are you in a hyper-connected life where loneliness corrodes social bonds and makes us strangers even to ourselves?”
For Pope Leo, the answer lies in seeing God’s image in everyone we encounter. “Fraternity is the most authentic name for closeness,” he said, because it means “rediscovering the face of the other. For those who believe, it is seeing the face of God in everyone, the poor, lonely, even the enemy.”
This vision is not passive. The Pope urged the creation of what he called a “human alliance,” a commitment to build relationships “based on care, generosity, and trust rather than power, profit, and suspicion”. He insisted that the poor must always be included, not merely as recipients of charity, but as “active participants in discernment and dialogue.”
For Catholics, this is more than a social program. It is a call to conversion, a call to live out the Gospel’s command to love one another, to build up the Body of Christ, and to become instruments of peace. As Pope Leo reminded the participants, it is their choice to live differently, to lead lives of courage and commitment, that “can change the world”.
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