Pope, in parish visit, urges prayer for peace, warns against individualistic spirituality
March 02, 2026
Pope Leo XIV visited the Church of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Rome on March 1 (video) and repeatedly called for prayers for peace.
“I am very worried about what is happening in the world: especially yesterday, today, and we do not know for how many days, in the Middle East,” Pope Leo said in a meeting with the children of the parish. “War, again!”
“We too must be heralds of the message of peace, the peace of Jesus, the peace that God wants for everyone,” he continued. “So we need to pray a lot for peace and seek how to live in unity and how to always reject that temptation to hurt the other. Violence is never the right choice. And we must always choose the good.”
To the elderly and infirm, he said:
I spoke earlier about the need to pray for peace in the world—for the problems in the Middle East and in Ukraine and in so many other places—but it is really important to pray for peace here, at home. And it is also important that the voice of the parish “awakens” a little the responses of the authorities—the police, the state—who many times could do more to help overcome the problems that exist here. Then even this voice that comes from a community of faithful in a parish can be raised and important changes can be made for the good of all.
In his meeting with the parish’s children, Pope Leo addressed questions about evil in the world and children in need.
“In a certain sense, it is the mission of this parish and it answers one of the questions: why does evil exist?” he said. “In the world, we know that evil exists, but more important is that there is good, there is love, and this parish is the light of love here, in this neighborhood!”
He added, “Why does evil exist, unfortunately? Man who is free can choose, as Scripture says: the Bible says that he can choose life or death, good or evil. We have this freedom, which is a very great gift. We are here to set an example and start with you children. You must always choose good and never evil, because in this way we can slowly transform our world, we can make a difference!”
The Pontiff also lamented the suffering of children in Gaza and encouraged the children to reject drugs.
In his meeting with the parish council, the Pope warned against an individualistic spirituality:
Sometimes in the Church we find small groups, so to speak, or tendencies that somewhat promote a very individualistic spirituality: “God and I... other people, other situations are not important...”. A very closed climate, in this sense.
And this is not what Jesus wanted to leave us when he called a group of friends and said: “Do this in memory of me,” beginning with the Eucharist and also arriving at its fullness which is communion. Communion precisely in this sense, of fraternal love, of our being together, of our encounter.
The visit to the parish, entrusted to the Dehonian order, was the third in a series of Sunday pastoral visits to parishes in the Diocese of Rome. On February 15, he visited Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido; on February 22, he visited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Praetorian Barracks.
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