Palm Sunday: God Rejects Prayers from Leaders Who Start Wars — Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV, during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, described Jesus as the King of Peace who rejects violence and war.

Recalling Jesus’ teaching to His disciples, the Pope said when one struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus told him to “put away his sword,” showing that “those who live by the sword die by the sword.” On the cross, Jesus allowed Himself to be “led like a lamb to the slaughter,” revealing “the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”

Citing Isaiah, he noted: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood”

Emphasizing that “Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

The Pope lamented the suffering of the oppressed, urging: “Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from His cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”

He concluded with the prayer of Bishop Tonino Bello, asking Mary to grant that “the flashes of war are fading into the twilight” and that the “tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun.”See full, details. .