Rimini, August 22, 2026 – The hour of responsibility. Before the audience of the 47th Meeting of Friendship among Peoples Pope Leo XIV (here are the photos of the day in Rimini and San Marino) recalls the famous 1939 radio message of Pius XII in which the Holy Father at the time reminded the powerful that with peace nothing is lost, while everything can be lost with war. Almost ninety years ago it was the invasion of Poland that triggered a world conflict, today aggressions are not lacking from the loudest concerning Ukraine and the Middle East, to the quieter ones like the one starving Ethiopian civilians in Tigray that no one talks about.
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The concerns of Pope Leo
It is no coincidence that Prevost shares his concerns at the annual event organized by Communion and Liberation. For both Saint Augustine is a central figure especially in the teachings where the Doctor of the Church argues that to achieve true and full happiness man cannot be satisfied with success and earthly goods. In this context it becomes natural to talk about peace and talk about the future: Pope John Paul II did so in 1982 when the Cold War was at its height, and the current pontiff did so yesterday in a decidedly more heated climate.
“Today peace is guarded and spread by people who love to meet”
Getting involved by putting flags aside is the first task that the Holy Father entrusts not only to the members of Communion and Liberation, but to all the faithful: “Today peace is guarded and spread by people who love to meet and are not afraid to confront each other. Recognizing ourselves, in fact, in the dignity of children of God, we come into contact with what originally unites human beings, beyond all diversity, separation or conflict. We can empathize with one another, listen to each other and become friends, among people and therefore also among peoples. Before borders, definitions and institutions there are always people.”
“We must free technology and finance from the businesses of death”
This identification as different, but still with equal rights, has a second effect. Man cannot rely on technology and artificial intelligence with its algorithms if these tools produce solutions that generate dynamics of exploitation. “We must free coexistence from suspicion, culture from arrogance, education from ideology, work from the idolatry of profit, technology and finance from the businesses of death. Let us expose unjust power relations, at the root of poverty and inequalities, war and environmental disasters. Let us disarm technological development when it becomes pervasive and destructive.”
“Evil is not fought with evil”
“Brave pioneers” are needed who abandon the logic of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and who have the strength to propose a world based on justice, remembering that this is the minimum degree of mercy. “Following Jesus Christ after the tragedies and new beginnings of the 20th century implies a clear awareness: evil is not fought with evil. To false realism, which re-arms minds, words and nations, Catholic culture today must oppose the realism of mercy, for which enemies cannot exist and all, even adversaries, are brothers and sisters to look in the eyes and meet in truth.”
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“This is the hour of responsibility”
Feeling almost at home, Prevost also outlines the programmatic line for a movement that has shown itself very close to the Roman Pontiff and which, following the indications of Pope Francis, has managed not to close in on itself remaining inclusive. “Dear friends, this is the hour of responsibility. The different editions of the Meeting have been able to draw from the great heritage of the past the reasons that engage you today in the confrontation with every expression of the human soul. The title chosen for this edition, taken from the last verse of the Divine Comedy, pushes us towards the history of which God is Lord. ’The love that moves the sun and the other stars’ has not disappeared, it has not lost strength, nor intensity, although it is a love that willingly remains silent, unlike the noisy forces that upset the earth.”
“Synodality is the nature of a people who in friendship feel they belong only to God”
In a reality where what divides has become more important than what unites, the Church is trying to go against the current through Synodality, a path that requires the commitment of all the faithful. The pontiff’s last thought focuses precisely on a path that follows the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. “Synodality is not the name of a process – concluded Pope Leo – but the nature of a people who in friendship and in meeting the other feel they belong only to God. Then authority turns into service, which honors diversity and facilitates harmony. This style constitutes in this troubled era a true sign of the times.”
The last note must be torn from the color. Feeling truly at home, Pope Leo lingered in greetings creating a small delay in the schedule.
