Pope Leo XIV Urges Faithful to "entrust to divine mercy the many victims of the armed conflicts that still ravage the world" to Eastern Christians FULL TEXT

Pope Leo XIV met on Wednesday with a delegation of L’Œuvre d’Orient and the Institut Chrétiens d’Orient, which serve Eastern Christians.FULL TEXT - ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV
TO A DELEGATION OF “L’ŒUVRE D’ORIENT”
AND THE “INSTITUT CHRÉTIENS D’ORIENT”
in the Vatican's Consistory Hall on Wednesday, 4 November 202
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Monsignor, Mr President, Dear brothers and sisters,

Two days ago, the Latin liturgy invited us to remember all the faithful departed, an opportunity to entrust to divine mercy the many victims of the armed conflicts that still ravage the world.

The month of November thus invites us to hope. This virtue is undoubtedly the one that will guide your reflections over the next two days of your symposium on the theme Peace Put to the Test by the World: Eastern Christians, Conflicts and Peace Building.

You have chosen to bring together several academic disciplines in dialogue with one another in order to better understand contemporary conflicts and to seek the conditions for a just and lasting peace, particularly in the Middle East.

Over the coming days, I encourage you to work with “a humble and peace-loving heart” (Address to the Diplomatic Corps, 9 January 2026). Dialogue between philosophy and other disciplines enables us to rediscover the meaning of the words and concepts used, which is probably one of the main challenges of our time (ibid.).

In this sense, it is heartening that, through this symposium, you are helping to promote the emergence of an international network of academics who make peace the subject of their research. Dialogue between faith and reason, culture and history, is the essential path to justice and reconciliation. Thus, by reflecting on the criteria for a just and lasting peace, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, you are becoming servants of a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. Be, therefore, sowers of hope through your reflection and your action, whilst maintaining the humility taught to us by the Gospel: “One sows, and the other reaps”’ (Jn 4:37).

May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace and Throne of Wisdom, intercede with her Son so that His reign of peace may come, and may she guide your reflections over the coming days.

Thank you.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 4 November 2026