(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 08.20.2025).- Pope Leo XIV has called on Catholics worldwide to unite in fasting and prayer for peace this Friday, August 22, coinciding with the liturgical feast of the Queenship of Mary. His appeal came at the close of the weekly general audience in Rome, where he greeted Italian pilgrims and reminded the faithful that Mary is invoked not only as Queen, but as Queen of Peace.
The Pope framed the initiative against the backdrop of ongoing wars in the Holy Land, Ukraine, and other corners of the globe, lamenting that humanity remains “wounded by conflict.” He invited the Church to dedicate the day to asking God for justice, peace, and comfort for all those whose lives have been torn apart by violence. “We ask Mary, Queen of Peace, to intercede for peoples so that they may discover the path of reconciliation,” Leo said.
The decision resonates with the Pope’s recent reflections in Castel Gandolfo, where he spoke candidly about the war in Ukraine. He expressed hope that an end to the crisis might be found, while cautioning that it will require both perseverance in diplomacy and constancy in prayer.
Papal calls for fasting and prayer are not without precedent. Francis, Leo’s predecessor, frequently used such gestures as a response to the tragedies of war. In September 2013, amid the devastation in Syria, he summoned not only Catholics but also believers of other religions and people of goodwill to a day of prayer and fasting. Declaring that “violence never brings peace,” Francis sought to mobilize the global conscience against escalating bloodshed.
Over the following decade, similar appeals marked moments of acute crisis: from Lebanon and Afghanistan to the continuing tragedies in Ukraine and the Holy Land. Most recently, in October 2024, Francis dedicated a global day of fasting to the victims of the Israel–Hamas conflict, timing it to the anniversary of the October 7 attack. On the eve of that initiative, he prayed the rosary at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, urging synod delegates and the faithful alike to join him.
Leo XIV’s call therefore falls within a clear papal tradition: the conviction that the Church’s most powerful weapon in the face of violence is spiritual, not political. By aligning this new initiative with the feast of Mary’s Queenship, he anchors the plea for peace in a theological vision where prayer, fasting, and devotion to the Mother of God intersect with the urgent cries of the modern world.
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