Leo XIV omits mention of Christ at Assisi, says ‘peace’ must be man’s ‘guiding star’

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Leo XIV omits mention of Christ at Assisi, says ‘peace’ must be man’s ‘guiding star’
The Pontiff spoke as though all world religions are equally legitimate while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.



Pope Leo XIV
Adri Salido/Getty Images

Tue Oct 27, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — In recorded remarks to the international ecumenical gathering in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed that “peace” must be man’s “guiding star” while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Peace must once again become the common ideal of all peoples, the guiding star for all our choices, the standard that exposes injustice, and the shared horizon for all,” insisted the Pontiff, according to a transcript provided by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication. 

Leo said that when Pope St. John Paul II convened the first World Day of Prayer for Peace 40 years ago in October 1986, he called for the participants of all world religions to “continue to live the spirit of Assisi.”

“That was at the time of the Cold War, a very different situation from the one we face today,” Leo XIV opined. 

“After 1989, many believed that globalization would ensure lasting peace for the world,” he said. “Unfortunately, as I wrote in Magnifica Humanitas, ‘an almost blind faith was placed in the ability of the markets to generate prosperity, democracy and stability. In reality, rather than automatically generating unity and peace, globalization has provoked fundamentalist, identity-based and nationalistic reactions.’”

“Against this backdrop, there has been ‘troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics,’” he continued. “As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, ‘the accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations,’ thus betraying the memory of the 20th century and the senseless slaughter of millions of human lives.”

“We must rebuild peace everywhere, not prepare for more wars. War can never be waged in the name of God. For us believers, ‘to fight in the name of religion means attacking religion itself,’” he stressed, quoting his recent encyclical.

Pope Leo XIV says “there is no such thing as a holy war,” rejecting any religious justification for conflicts around the world: “Only peace is holy.”

Pope Leo also avoided speaking about the need for the world to be evangelized, and instead focused on a need for dialogue, seemingly among equals.

“The world needs dialogue,” Leo said. “The path of Assisi calls religious leaders to foster a climate of dialogue amongst the faithful and within society, so that the language of arrogance may give way to the language of peace, negotiation and understanding. This will help to “gradually (lead) humanity away from the cycle of violence.”

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‘Archbishop’ Sarah Mullally opens prayer at Leo XIV’s Assisi ceremony

Sarah Mullally joined Catholic clergy and representatives from other Christian churches for a gathering commemorating the 1986 interreligious prayer event initiated by John Paul II.


Sarah Mullally

WPA Pool/Getty Images

Oct 27, 2026
ASSISI, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — The female Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury joined Catholic and Christian church representatives in Assisi, Italy, for the 40th anniversary of John Paul II’s 1986 inter-religious “World Day of Prayer for Peace.”

On October 27, Sarah Mullally joined Catholic Cardinals Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Matteo Zuppi, ecclesiastical assistant to the Community of Sant’Egidio that organized the event. Representatives from other Christian churches were also present alongside Mullally in procession to the sanctuary of the Lower Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, where they delivered some opening remarks.

Due to his recovery from lung surgery, Pope Leo XIV was not in attendance, instead sending a video message to the gathering urging participants to live the “Spirit of Assisi.”

“The path of Assisi,” Leo said, “calls religious leaders to foster a climate of dialogue amongst the faithful and within society, so that the language of arrogance may give way to the language of peace, negotiation and understanding.”

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