Leo XIV: "We need a strong and courageous 'no' to war and a 'yes' to peace and brotherhood."

This morning, Pope Leo XIV received in a private audience the organizers of the Third World Meeting on Human Fraternity , organized by St. Peter's Basilica, the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, the Be Human Association, and the Saint Peter for Humanity Foundation. The diverse audience included a large number of Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Iraqi Nadia Murad , American Jody Williams , Liberian Leymah Gbowee , Yemeni Tawakkol Karman , Russian Dimitri Muratov , Ukrainian Oleksandra V'jačeslavivna Matvijčuk , Filipina Maria Ressa , and Congolese Denis Mukwege . The Pope personally thanked them in his speech for their presence.

Maye Musk. (AFP)

Also present were, among others, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Elena Beccalli, Elon Musk's mother, in a black suit, Vincenzo Gesmundo, secretary general of Coldiretti, Paolo Ruffini, Enrico Giovannini, Ermete Realazzi, president of the Symbola Foundation, Simona Agnes, a member of the RAI board of directors, Father Enzo Fortunato, Father Paolo Benanti, Enzo Cursio, coordinator of the FAO Nobel Alliance for Food Security and Peace, and Fabio Tamburini, director of Il Sole 24 Ore, Radio 24, and Radiocor.

Leo XIV, in his speech, explained that what is needed is "a strong and courageous 'no' to war and a 'yes' to peace and fraternity. As Pope Francis has taught us, war is not the right way to resolve conflicts." The Pontiff also cited the biblical story of Cain and Abel. "That first murder should not lead us to conclude: 'It has always been this way.' However ancient, however widespread, Cain's violence cannot be tolerated as 'normal.' On the contrary, the norm resonates in the divine question addressed to the guilty party: 'Where is your brother?' This question contains our vocation, the rule, the canon of justice. God does not take revenge on Abel through Cain, but asks him a question that accompanies the entire course of history," Pope Leo emphasized.

We need to "identify local and international paths that develop new forms of social charity, alliances of knowledge, and solidarity between generations," Pope Leo concluded in his audience with participants in the World Meeting on Human Fraternity. "Let them be popular paths, which also include the poor, not as recipients of aid, but as subjects of discernment and discourse." "We need a broad 'human alliance,' founded not on power, but on care; not on profit, but on giving; not on suspicion, but on trust. Care, giving, and trust" are "pillars of an economy that does not kill."