The Colosseum — a symbol of ancient violence and rebirth — was the stage chosen by Pope Leo XIV for his memorable address on October 28, 2025, before the world's religious leaders. Smiling and composed, with the calm and direct style that already defines his pontificate, the Holy Father reaffirmed with conviction what will likely be the central theme of his mission: peace as a spiritual and universal journey, and interreligious dialogue as the foundation for a new civilization of coexistence. Yet within his words — and, perhaps even more, in his serene firmness — there resounded a bold and unsettling message: a direct challenge to the rise of religious supremacy that burns across the world today, and most painfully, in his own homeland — the United States.
A Programmatic Declaration of Peace and Conversion
The central passage of his speech — "The world thirsts for peace: it needs a true and solid era of reconciliation…" — is more than a moral reflection; it is a programmatic declaration. Within it lies Leo XIV's theological and anthropological vision: the conviction that peace does not begin in institutions but in human hearts; that authentic faith does not divide but unites; and that prayer is not a retreat for the soul, but a political and civic act in the highest sense. "Whoever does not pray abuses religion — even to kill," he warned — a sentence that strikes like a hammer against every form of fanaticism disguised as spiritual zeal.
Leo XIV speaks not as an abstract philosopher but as a man of his age, aware that religious violence now takes on new forms: nationalisms disguised as faith, identity politics cloaked in sacred language. The Pope denounces these distortions with both strength and compassion, reminding the world that true prayer "is a movement of the spirit, an opening of the heart." Faith, he insists, is not possession but encounter — not a weapon, but a way of reconciliation.
An American Pope Against Religious Fanaticism
Born in the United States, Leo XIV has carried into the heart of Rome the spiritual heritage of his homeland — the deeper, often forgotten one: faith in freedom of conscience, in human dignity, in universal fraternity. But he has also shown the courage to address his native country with a subtle yet unmistakable rebuke. As America undergoes an unprecedented wave of religious polarization — where the Gospel is too often bent to serve power or political identity — the Pope offers a different reading: a recovery of the Founding Fathers' original spirit, in which religious liberty was meant as a space for coexistence, not confrontation.
His tone echoes the vision of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who defended the separation of Church and State not as a rejection of faith but as a condition for its purity. Paradoxically, Leo XIV affirms more clearly than many American politicians the genuine religious spirit of the United States — a religion that frees, that inspires dialogue, that does not impose but proposes. In doing so, he weaves that democratic ideal into the magisterial fabric of the Catholic Church, grounding it not in cold secularism, but in the Gospel principle of universal fraternity.
His message speaks to the whole world — but also to the wounded heart of America, where faith is too often weaponized in cultural and ideological wars. Leo XIV shows that authentic Christianity does not fear pluralism: it recognizes diversity as a gift of God.
The Spirit of Assisi and the Continuity of Dialogue
By recalling the historic meeting of October 27, 1986 — when Saint John Paul II gathered world religious leaders in Assisi — Pope Leo XIV situates himself firmly in continuity with his predecessors while adding a personal accent. "Never again one against another, but one beside the other": from that phrase, he renews the call to resist the rising tide of nationalism and fanaticism threatening peace. The "Spirit of Assisi," he says, is not a memory but a living source — a fountain of hope capable of nurturing a culture of peace.
In thanking the Community of Sant'Egidio for keeping this spirit alive, "often against the current," the Pope reminds us that praying together across religious boundaries does not mean relativism but the recognition of our shared human horizon. In a time marked by suspicion and fear, Leo XIV renews the idea of religious fraternity: religions must act as "sisters," not as rivals.
The Theological Foundation: Nostra Aetate as Compass
The entire address rests on the foundation of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's declaration on the Church's relationship with non-Christian religions, promulgated exactly sixty years ago, on October 28, 1965. For Leo XIV, this document remains the "solid base" of interreligious dialogue. Quoting its core teaching — "We cannot call upon God, the Father of all, if we refuse to behave as brothers toward some of His children" — the Pope translates its timeless message for today: faith is authentic only when it generates fraternity.
From this basis, he condemns the temptation to manipulate religion for political ends, echoing Pope Francis' warning: "Woe to those who seek to drag God into taking sides in war!" Leo XIV makes it his own cry: "War is never holy; only peace is holy — because it is willed by God!" Thus, Nostra Aetate becomes, in his reading, not only a theological document but a roadmap for human coexistence.
The Responsibility of Leaders and the Duty of Hope
In its final section, the speech widens to include a strong moral appeal to political leaders: "Ending war is an urgent duty before God for all those responsible for nations." The tone recalls prophetic figures of the twentieth century — Giorgio La Pira, Paul VI — but Leo XIV adds his own conviction: reconciliation is not merely a political obligation; it is a form of spiritual intelligence. It is, he says, a culture capable of overcoming "the globalization of powerlessness."
Where governments fail to build peace, prayer becomes transformative power. His is an active spirituality — not passive contemplation, but creative engagement. "We must dare to make peace!" the Pope exhorts, giving voice to the cry of the poor, the refugees, and the weary nations of the earth.
A Global Pope for a Divided World
Altogether, the Colosseum address stands as a defining manifesto of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate. He emerges as a global and deeply American Pope — one who does not deny his roots but refines them through the universal lens of the Gospel. He unites the spirit of the Founding Fathers with that of Assisi: liberty and fraternity, conscience and communion.
In a world fractured by walls and divisions, Leo XIV offers a bold synthesis: religion not as an identity fortress, but as a shared human language. While condemning religious supremacy, he demonstrates that the true strength of faith lies not in domination but in witness. "Peace is holy," he repeats with quiet power, "because it is willed by God."
In these words lies his vocation: to make resound in the heart of the Church and the world the ancient and ever-new voice of prayer — a prayer that does not divide but reconciles, that does not rule but liberates. Leo XIV, the Pope from America, brings to the world a universal message: peace is not conquered — it is prayed into being. And only by praying together can we learn again to live side by side, not face to face in opposition.
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