Pope prays for leaders to calm tensions on anniversary

Pope Leo asked God to inspire world leaders to calm global tensions and reduce hatred in a speech to mark his first anniversary as head of the Catholic Church, a day after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican.

Leo, who drew the ire of US President Donald Trump after criticizing the Iran war, asked worshipers to pray for global governments to move away from violence.

During his visit to Pompeii, a modern city about 150 miles (245 km) south of Rome near the famous ruins of a volcanic eruption, the pope said he would join God in prayers to begin “touching hearts, calming grudges and fratricidal hatreds, and enlightening those with special responsibilities in government.”

Leo, the first US pope, met with Rubio on Thursday amid a tense atmosphere in Washington as Trump repeatedly belittled the pope on social media.

The Vatican later said in a statement that the two had pledged to improve their bilateral relations, in what insiders said was an unusual acknowledgment of unprecedented tensions.

Following the meeting, the US Embassy in the Vatican said in X that Leo and Rubio discussed “issues of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere.”

Former Cardinal Robert Prevost Leo was elected by the world’s cardinals on May 8, 2025, to replace the late Pope Francis as leader of the 1.4 billion-member church.

Prevost, who spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope, kept a relatively low profile in his first 10 months but has been speaking out forcefully against war and despotism in recent weeks.

In a message to thousands of people in Pompeii’s main square on Friday, the pope lamented that world peace was “endangered by international tensions and an economy that prioritizes the arms trade over respect for human life.”

He urged people not to get used to war.

“We cannot surrender to the images of death that the news shows us every day,” Leo said.