Pope Leo XIV Urges Ceasefire and Resumption of Dialogue for Peace in Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful this Sunday, during Lent, the period preceding Holy Week, to make space for silence, turn off the television and phone a little, and dedicate time to the elderly and the most needy. Leo XIV assured during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square that these acts of penance 'far from impoverishing our humanity, enrich it, purifying and strengthening it on its path towards a horizon'. Therefore, he urged Catholics to, 'along with prayer and works of mercy', make 'space for silence, let's turn off televisions, radios, and mobile phones a little'. He also asked: 'let's listen to each other, in families, in workplaces, and in communities. Let's dedicate time to those who are alone, especially the elderly, the poor, and the sick'. He also indicated to Catholics to renounce superfluities and share 'what we save with those who lack necessities'. The Pope begins his spiritual exercises From this afternoon until next Friday, February 27, the Pope will begin a week of spiritual exercises with the entire Roman Curia, and all public commitments will be suspended, including the Wednesday audience. Leo XIV, along with members of the Roman Curia, will participate in spiritual exercises to be held daily in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, and the bishop of Trondheim, Norway, Erik Varden, a Trappist monk, will lead these meditations on the theme 'Illuminated by a hidden glory'. The week-long spiritual retreat for the Roman Curia was established in 1929 by Pope Pius XI with the encyclical Mens Nostra, and for several years Francis took the entire Curia out of Rome to celebrate it. EFE