Pope Leo expressed hope about recent diplomatic efforts, but said work remains
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to observe Aug. 22 as a day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, particularly in Ukraine and in the Holy Land.
At the end of his general audience Aug. 20, the pope noted that the Church will celebrate the feast of the Queenship of Mary Aug. 22.
“While our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine and in many other regions of the world,” he said, “I ask all the faithful to spend Aug. 22 in fasting and prayer, asking the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer because of the armed conflicts underway.”
“May Mary, queen of peace, intercede so that people would find the path of peace,” he prayed.
The night before his audience, as he was greeting people who gathered outside the Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo told reporters the new diplomatic moves aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine are a reason for hope, but much remains to be done.
“There is hope. We still have to work hard, pray hard and seek the way forward,” the pope told reporters late Aug. 19 as he prepared to leave the villa and return to the Vatican.
Encountering the pope the day after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a delegation of European leaders, the reporters asked Pope Leo if he had heard from any of the leaders.
“I hear from some of them from time to time,” the pope said, but he did not respond to a journalist who asked if he speaks with Trump.
Prior to Trump’s meeting with Putin, Pope Leo prayed that world leaders would recognize the impact their actions have on the local population.
“May those who make decisions always keep in mind their responsibility for the consequences their choices have on populations. May they not ignore the needs of the most vulnerable and the universal desire for peace,” the pope said Aug. 10.
After leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo mentioned the Aug. 6 and Aug. 9 commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The commemorations have “awakened in the world a rightful rejection of war as a means of resolving conflicts,” the pope said. “Let us continue to pray for an end to wars.”
Pope Leo did not mention Trump and Putin by name nor did he pray specifically for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The pope did congratulate Armenia and Azerbaijan for signing a peace agreement during a ceremony hosted by Trump at the White House Aug. 8. Pope Leo prayed that “the event may contribute to a stable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus” after decades of conflict.
And he appealed to the international community to act swiftly to bring peace and stability to Haiti.
“The situation of the population in Haiti is becoming increasingly desperate,” the pope said. “Reports continue of killings, all kinds of violence, human trafficking, forced exiles and kidnappings.”
“I make a heartfelt appeal to all responsible parties that the hostages be released immediately, and I call for concrete support from the international community to create the social and institutional conditions that will allow Haitians to live in peace,” the pope said.
Trump meets with Zelenskyy, European leaders after Putin summit
By Kate Scanlon, OSV News
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a delegation of European leaders Aug. 18 following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin a few days prior as he seeks a resolution to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The quickly-scheduled meeting with the European delegation came after Trump hosted Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, marking the first meeting between a U.S. president and the Russian leader since that country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
After their Aug. 15 meeting, Trump and Putin delivered statements at the conclusion of that meeting that did not shed much light on what they discussed, and neither took questions from the press.
In the wake of that meeting, Zelenskyy, joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, gathered at the White House, where Trump signaled openness to security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent future aggression by Russia.
“I believe that in a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we’re going to be considering that at the table also, like, ‘Who will do what?’” Trump said.
“I’m optimistic that collectively, we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine,” he added. “I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure.”
But following his meeting with Putin, and again at his meeting with European leaders, Trump also suggested openness to Putin’s demands that Ukraine cede land, and the people dwelling there, to Russian dominion.
“We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact,” Trump said, referring to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
Trump’s meeting with Putin did not result in a ceasefire agreement, which Trump previously said he would seek. Just hours before the scheduled meeting with the European delegation, Russia continued its assault on Ukraine, attacking the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.
Trump also said at the White House that he would pursue a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin.
