Pope Leo XIV prays for peace as US-Russia summit over Ukraine war gets underway

Pope Leo XIV is greeted by faithful as he arrives at the St. Thomas of Villanova Church to celebrate a mass, in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, Friday, Aug.15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ASSOCIATED PRESS

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV prayed Friday for a peaceful end to the “increasingly deafening violence” of wars around the world as he celebrated a Catholic feast day on the same day as a high-stakes U.S.-Russia summit over the war in Ukraine.

History’s first American pope didn’t mention the meeting Friday in Alaska between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he has constantly called for dialogue and an end to the conflict, including in conversations with Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On Friday Leo recalled that the Aug. 15 feast day dedicated to the Virgin Mary was declared a dogma by Pope Pius XII at the height of World War II.

Full story at Yahoo News

By ANDREA ROSA, NICOLE WINFIELD and DEREK GATOPOULOS