Pope Leo XIV Appeals for Peace in Yemen and Jordan
Reflecting on the greatest commandment, he urged an end to fighting in Yemen, prayed for Jordan attack victims and for the Assisi gathering he will miss.
Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus from St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, October 25, 2026, reflecting on the Gospel according to Matthew in which a teacher of the Law asks Jesus, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Jesus replies by citing Deuteronomy: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The Holy Father insisted that intellectual assent alone does not suffice. “It is not enough to know that God exists, that he is the only God, or that he is the Almighty. The Lord seeks a personal relationship with us: the one true God wants to become our God.”
Love of God, he continued, “is neither an obligation nor an imposition.” Authentic love, he said, “can be authentic only when it is a response to his love, which always precedes us,” and it requires “a total commitment that involves the whole person: heart, soul and mind.”
Recalling St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the Pope quoted her words that “Love alone” makes “the Church’s members act, and if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel.”
Concern for Yemen and the Attack in Jordan
After the Marian prayer, Pope Leo XIV turned to peoples suffering from war. He expressed particular concern for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, especially in Taiz, where residents lack food, water, and medical care. He appealed for hostilities to cease so that “the Yemeni people and all the peoples of the region” can “live in peace.”
He also prayed for the victims of the terrorist attack carried out on October 23 at the Orthodox Church of Saint George in Hamoud, Jordan. The Holy Father expressed his spiritual closeness to the afflicted community and to Jordan, a country “known for its peaceful coexistence and respect between different religions.”
Assisi Anniversary and Final Greetings
Looking ahead, the Pope invited the faithful to unite in spirit with the gathering of religious leaders scheduled in Assisi on October 27 for the fortieth anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace inaugurated by St. John Paul II. Wars, he said, “sow death and destruction, impoverish and harm the world.” He urged believers and leaders alike to make “choices of dialogue and peace.”
On doctors’ advice following recent lung surgery, the Holy Father canceled his planned trip to Assisi while remaining spiritually present for the event.
Before concluding, he greeted pilgrims from the Centro Academico Romano Fundacion of Spain, Saint Ciaran’s College in Ballygawley, Ireland, the “Saint John Paul II” schools of the Diocese of Opole in Poland, Italian protocol officials, and parish groups from Castiglion Fiorentino and Concorezzo.