Angelus of the Holy Father Leo XIV
St. Peter’s Square — Sunday, October 12, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters:
Before concluding the celebration, I wish to extend a warm greeting to all of you, who have gathered to pray in this great “upper room” together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. You represent the multifaceted reality of associations, movements, and communities animated by Marian devotion, which is proper to every Christian. I thank you and exhort you to always ground your spirituality in Sacred Scripture and in the Tradition of the Church.
I greet all the pilgrim groups, in particular the Augustinian laity from Italy and the Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites.
In these last days, the agreement on the start of the peace process has ignited a spark of hope in the Holy Land. I encourage the parties involved to courageously continue the path marked out toward a just, lasting peace that respects the legitimate aspirations of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. Two years of conflict have left death and ruins everywhere, especially in the hearts of those who have brutally lost children, parents, friends, and everything they had. I join with the entire Church in their immense pain. Today, the Lord’s caress is directed especially to you, the certainty that, even in the deepest darkness, He remains with us: «Dilexi te – I have loved you». To God, the only Peace of humanity, we implore that He heal all wounds and help with His grace to accomplish what now seems humanly impossible: to rediscover that the other is not an enemy, but a brother to look upon, forgive, and offer the hope of reconciliation.
With pain, I follow the news of the new and violent attacks that are striking several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the death of innocent people, including children, and leaving many families in precariousness and desolation. My heart turns once again to the population, which has been living in anguish and violence for so long. Let us all renew our commitment to put an end to the violence, to war, to destruction, to open ourselves to dialogue and to peace.
I closely accompany the dear Peruvian people in this moment of political transition. I pray that Peru may continue on the path of reconciliation, dialogue, and national unity.
Today in Italy, the victims of workplace accidents are remembered. Let us pray for them and for the safety of all workers.
And now let us turn to Mary with filial confidence.