Peace be with you all! This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.

The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful. I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to bring an end to the hostilities, whose heart-rending price is borne by children, the elderly, and the sick.

Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. #ApostolicJourney #Cameroon t.co/bKteFZ3iWE

War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them. Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.

God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.

From #Gaza, the cries of parents rise to heaven ever more intensely as they clutch the lifeless bodies of their children, searching for food and shelter from bombs. I renew my appeal to leaders: cease fire, release all hostages, and fully respect international humanitarian law!

Tragic news continues to arrive in these days from the Middle East, especially from Gaza. I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City, which as you know killed three Christians and gravely wounded others. I pray for the victims, Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud, and I am particularly close to their families and to all the parishioners.

When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment. As a result, our social bonds close in upon themselves, forming self-referential circuits that no longer expose us to reality. We thus come to live within bubbles, impermeable to one another. Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounter and dialogue. In this way, polarization, conflict, fear and violence spread. What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth.

In our competitive society, where it seems that only the strong and winners deserve to live, sport also teaches us how to lose. It forces us, in learning the art of losing, to confront our fragility, our limitations and our imperfections. It is through the experience of these limits that we open our hearts to hope. Athletes who never make mistakes, who never lose, do not exist.

Communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa. Here, in #Algeria, the maternal love of Lalla Meryem gathers everyone as children, within our rich diversity, in our shared aspiration for dignity, love, justice, and peace. In a world where division and wars sow pain and death, living in unity and peace is a compelling sign.

We are witnessing with despair the iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war. Burning crops, stealing livestock, and blocking aid are tactics increasingly used by armed militias. As civilians languish in misery, political elites grow fat with impunity. It is time to sanction these abuses and hold accountable those who are responsible for it.

I am deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in #Gaza. I assure the parish community of my spiritual closeness. I commend the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, and pray for their families and the injured. I renew my call for an immediate ceasefire. Only dialogue and reconciliation can ensure enduring peace!

Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are immersed in extreme poverty. Yet, disproportionate wealth remains in the hands of a few. It is an unjust scenario, in the face of which we cannot fail to question ourselves and commit to change things. There is no lack of resources at the root of disparities, but the need to address solvable problems related to a more equitable distribution of wealth, to be achieved with moral sense and honesty.

The Holy See is willing to help enemies meet, so they may look each other in the eye and so people may be given back the dignity they deserve: the dignity of peace. With heart in hand, I say to the leaders of nations: let us meet; let us dialogue; let us negotiate!

The cross is part of the mission. The imperialist occupation of the world is disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked. The poor, imprisoned, and rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing He brings a new creation to light.

I was chosen, without any merit of my own. Now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for He wants us all to be united in one family.

War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples, which take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, or stolen futures. May diplomacy silence the weapons! May nations chart their futures with works of peace, not with violence and bloodstained conflicts!

There is so much violence and so many wars in our world! Amid this horror that should provoke outrage—as people die in the name of military conquest—stands the call of Christ, who repeats: ‘Peace be with you!’

God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies. But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud. God’s heart is with the little ones and the humble, and with them He builds up His Kingdom of love and peace day by day. Wherever there is love and service, God is there.

Absurd and inhuman violence is spreading ferociously through the sacred places of the Christian East, profaned by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives, which are considered at most collateral damage of self-interest. But no gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or families. No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.