Pope Leo XIV Urges Just, Lasting Peace in the Middle East
At the Apostolic Palace he received L’Œuvre d’Orient and Institut Chrétiens d’Orient ahead of a Rome conference on Eastern Christians.
On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Pope Leo XIV received in audience at the Apostolic Palace the delegations of L’Œuvre d’Orient and the Institut Chrétiens d’Orient, two Catholic institutions dedicated to serving Eastern Christians. The meeting took place in the Consistory Hall and came on the eve of a two-day conference at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, scheduled for November 5–6 and titled “Peace Put to the Test by the World: Eastern Christians, Conflicts, and Peacebuilding.”
In his address, the Holy Father recalled the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed observed on November 2 and entrusted to God’s mercy “the many victims of the armed conflicts that still stain the world with blood.” He welcomed the gathering’s effort to bring academic disciplines together to examine contemporary conflicts and to seek the conditions of “a just and lasting peace, particularly in the Middle East,” and he encouraged participants to work “with a humble heart” for peace.
Faith, Reason, and the Work of Peace
Pope Leo XIV underlined the need to clarify the language of public life. “Dialogue between philosophy and the other disciplines allows us to rediscover the meaning of the words and concepts we use. This is probably one of the main challenges of our time,” he said. He expressed appreciation for the conference’s aim of building an international network of scholars who will make peace their object of research.
He added: “Dialogue between faith and reason, and between culture and history, is the indispensable path to justice and reconciliation.” Drawing on the Gospel image that “one sows and another reaps,” he urged those present to sow hope. He said that reflecting on the criteria for a just and lasting peace, “especially in the Middle East and Eastern Europe,” makes participants “servants of a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.”
The audience highlights the Holy See’s continuing concern for Christians of the East, who live amid wars and political upheaval, and for the broader search for peace rooted in justice rather than force alone. By receiving foundations that support Eastern communities and by blessing a scholarly network devoted to peacebuilding, Pope Leo XIV tied pastoral solidarity to intellectual and spiritual work for reconciliation in regions still marked by violence.