Lenten campaign 2026
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In a brief and simple message, Pope Leo offered his gratitude to a group of people who work behind the scenes, but play a crucial role in enabling the Successor of Peter to be a messenger of peace.
On March 23, the Holy Father welcomed representatives of ITA Airways, together with a delegation from the Lufthansa Group.
When the pope flies to a country on an apostolic journey, he is taken by Italy’s air carrier, ITA.
Leo noted that it was Paul VI who took the first Alitalia and now ITA Airways flight. “And I too, God willing, will have the opportunity to avail myself of your services, in 20 days’ time, for the journey to Africa.”
The Pope said that his predecessors have found in the staff people who create “a serene, I would say almost family-like, atmosphere, where respect goes hand in hand with devotion. Meeting you gives me the chance to express my personal appreciation and gratitude, and that of the Holy See, for this precious service.”
“Papal flights,” he said “are one of the most eloquent symbols of the mission of the Successors of Peter in the contemporary age.” On them, “the Pope appears to everyone as a messenger of peace: his routes are what they should always be, namely bridges of dialogue, of encounter, and of brotherhood.”
Banning bombs
This reflection gave Pope Leo a chance to speak on peace:
Aircraft should always be vehicles of peace, never of war! No one should fear that threats of death and destruction will come from the sky. After the tragic experiences of the twentieth century, aerial bombardment should have been banished forever! Instead, as we know, it still exists, and technological development, which is positive in itself, is being put at the service of war. This is not progress, it is regression!
Dear friends, in this context, it becomes even more important to chart courses of peace in the skies, and I thank you because, in the mission the Lord has entrusted to me, I know I can count on you.
The Holy Father concluded by giving his blessing.