Pope Leo XIV says "let us look to the example of Jesus, whose testimony of reconciliation and peace shines as hope for all peoples" FULL TEXT

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE JUBILEE OF ITALIAN DIPLOMACY
Paul VI Hall on Saturday, December 13, 2025
____________________________________
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!
Mr. Minister, Your Excellency, Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly pleased to greet and welcome you today, on the occasion of this Jubilee of Italian Diplomacy. Your pilgrimage through the Holy Door enhances our meeting and allows us to share the hope we carry in our hearts and which we wish to bear witness to others. This virtue, in fact, is not a confused desire for uncertain things, but is the name the will takes when it firmly tends toward the good and justice it feels lacking.

Hope thus holds a precious significance for the service you provide: in diplomacy, only those who truly hope seek and always support dialogue between the parties, trusting in mutual understanding even in the face of difficulties and tensions. Because we hope to understand each other, we commit ourselves to doing so by seeking the best ways and means to reach agreement. In this regard, it is significant that pacts and treaties are sealed by an agreement: this closeness of heart— ad cor —expresses the sincerity of gestures, such as a signature or a handshake, otherwise reduced to procedural formalities. It thus appears to be a distinctive trait, distinguishing a genuine diplomatic mission from calculations focused on personal gain or from the balancing act between rivals who conceal their respective distances.

Dear friends, to resist such tendencies, let us look to the example of Jesus, whose testimony of reconciliation and peace shines as hope for all peoples. On behalf of the Father, the Son speaks with the power of the Holy Spirit, completing God's dialogue with humanity. Therefore, all of us, made in the image of God, experience the fundamental relationships of our existence through dialogue, listening and speaking.

It is no coincidence that we call our native language our mother tongue, the one that expresses the culture of our homeland , uniting our people as one family. In its own language, each nation demonstrates a specific understanding of the world, its highest values ​​as well as its most everyday customs. Words are the common heritage through which the roots of the society we inhabit flourish. In a multiethnic climate, it becomes essential to foster dialogue, fostering mutual and intercultural understanding as a sign of welcome, integration, and brotherhood. Internationally, this same style can bear fruit in cooperation and peace, provided we persevere in cultivating our own way of speaking.

Only when a person is honest, in fact, can we say they are "true to their word," because they keep their word as a sign of constancy and faithfulness, without backtracking. Likewise, a person is consistent when they do what they say: their word is the good pledge they give to those who listen, and the value of their word demonstrates the worth of the person who speaks it.

In particular, the Christian is always a man of the Word: the Word he listens to from God, first and foremost, responding in prayer to his fatherly call. When we were baptized, the sign of the Cross was traced over our ears, saying: " Ephphatha ," meaning "Be opened." In that gesture, which recalls the healing wrought by Jesus, the sense through which we receive the first words of affection and the indispensable cultural elements that sustain our lives, in the family and in society, is blessed.

Like the senses and the body, language must also be educated, precisely in the school of listening and dialogue. Both being authentic Christians and being honest citizens means sharing a vocabulary capable of telling things as they are, without duplicity, cultivating harmony among people. Therefore, it is our and your commitment, especially as Ambassadors, to always foster dialogue and to renew it whenever it breaks down.

In an international context plagued by abuse and conflict, let us remember that the opposite of dialogue is not silence, but offense. Whereas silence opens us to listening and welcomes the voice of those before us, offense is a verbal assault, a war of words armed with lies, propaganda, and hypocrisy.

Let us commit ourselves with hope to disarming proclamations and speeches, caring not only for their beauty and precision, but above all for their honesty and prudence. Those who know what to say don't need many words, but only the right ones: let us therefore practice sharing words that do good, choosing words that build understanding, bearing witness to words that right wrongs and forgive offenses. Those who tire of dialogue tire of hoping for peace.

In this regard, Ladies and Gentlemen, I recall with you the heartfelt appeal that Saint Paul VI addressed to the United Nations General Assembly exactly sixty years ago. What unites men and women, my venerable Predecessor noted, is a pact sealed "with an oath that must change the future history of the world: no more war, no more war! Peace, peace must guide the destiny of peoples and of all humanity!" ( Address to the United Nations , 5). Yes, peace is the duty that unites humanity in a common quest for justice. Peace is the intention that from Christmas night accompanies the entire life of Christ, until his Easter of death and resurrection. Peace is the definitive and eternal good that we hope for all.

To preserve and promote true peace, be men and women of dialogue, wise in reading the signs of the times according to that code of Christian humanism that underlies Italian and European culture. Wishing you the best in the service you are called to perform, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and your families.

SOURCE Vatican.va Italian Translation