Pope Leo has had in the Audience The Pope's General Audience this morning, on a rainy Roman morning, included two moments in which he made special reference to the wars. Addressing the Arabic-speaking faithful, especially those in the Holy Land, he invited them to "transform their cry in times of trial and tribulation into confident prayer." "For God always listens to his children and responds when it suits him best," he said.
Later, addressing the Polish-speaking people, he recalled that "today they celebrate the National Day of Polish Children Victims of War, which symbolically commemorates their suffering and their contribution to the reconstruction of Poland after the Second World War".
"Remember also in your prayers and in your humanitarian projects the children of Ukraine, Gaza and other regions of the world affected by war," he said. "I entrust you and the children who are suffering today to the protection of Mary, Queen of Peace. Pazand I bless you from my heart".
"The situation is really serious."
Yesterday, as he left his residence at Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV responded briefly to journalists' questions about the bombing of Doha, Qatar: "We don't know how things are going. We must pray a lot, continue to work and insist on peace." Regarding the evacuation order in Gaza City, the Pontiff said he tried to contact the parish priest: "I have no news."
Leo XIV expressed his concern about what was happening in the Middle East, reported the Vatican Agency: "The situation is really serious," he said. "We do not know where things are heading; it is always serious. We must pray fervently and keep working, seeking and insisting on peace."
The cry of Jesus on the cross
In his opening catechesis, the Pope continued with the theme "Jesus Christ, our hope", proper to the Jubilee, and centered his meditation on the cry of Jesus on the cross: "Jesus cried out with a loud cry and breathed his last" (Mk 15:37).
"In this catechesis we contemplate the death of Jesus on the cross. The Gospel offers us a very valuable detail, and that is that Jesus does not die in silence, but gives his life with a cry. This cry expresses pain, abandonment, faith, total self-offering," the Pope pointed out.
Cry of pain to the Father, of humanity: prayer
"The Son, who has always lived in intimate communion with the Father, now experiences silence, absence, the abyss. But the cry of Jesus is not one of despair but of sincerity and truth, and reveals a deep trust, which resists even when everything is silent."
The Pontiff emphasized that "in the Crucified One we can recognize a God who does not remain distant, but who enters into the depths of our pain. His cry is a profound act of humanity, and it is also an extreme form of prayer".
In that cry, Jesus cries out to the Father because he believes in him, because he loves him and has not lost hope. Thus "he teaches us, in our dark nights, to offer our cries of pain to the Father. They are cries of hope in the hour of trial, which help us to trust and to open our hearts to the God who saves".
The centurion understands
The centurion, a pagan, understands the love of Jesus. "Not because he heard a discourse, but because he saw Jesus die in that way: 'Truly this man was the Son of God' (Mk 15:39). It is the first profession of faith after the death of Jesus".
Let us ask the Holy Spirit, Pope Leo concluded, to help us "to give voice to the sufferings of humanity through our prayer and concrete works of charity, so that this voice, united to that of Christ, may become a source of hope for all."
To the French-speaking pilgrims, with a group from Montreal (Canada), the Pope said: "When the moment of trial arrives, like the new saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo AcutisWe learn from Christ the cry of hope and the desire to open our hearts to the will of the Father, who desires our salvation.
