Pope Leo Calls for 'Culture of Reconciliation'

Pope Leo XIV on Friday called for all people to begin building "a culture of reconciliation" to heal a world filled with pain and suffering.

Leo, the first Roman Catholic Church head to be born in the U.S., took to social media less than 48 hours after Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah.

Besides that, the Middle East, which has been filled with war in recent decades, has been especially turbulent since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and took another 251 hostage.

Earlier this week, Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas' leadership in Qatar.

"I would like that today we may together begin to build a culture of reconciliation," Leo wrote on X. "We must meet one another, heal our wounds, and forgive the wrongs we did and did not do, but whose effects we still carry.

"There are no enemies — only brothers and sisters. What we need are gestures and policies of reconciliation."

Comments to Leo's post showed that many users struggled with the Pope's suggestion.

"One cannot reconciliate with Satan," Jeremiah Triton wrote.

"Would the early Christians who endured pagan persecution agree with you?  Would they build a conciliatory culture with their persecutors or would they denounce them to their faces?" Chris Price wrote.

"Our Lord Jesus said to pray for our enemies … so he acknowledges there are enemies. Holy Father, this is confusing for you to say that there are no enemies, only brothers and sisters. Please clarify. Thank you," Pluckymama wrote.

The Pope's "culture of reconciliation" comment was posted five minutes after the pontiff wrote: "The 'globalization of indifference' Pope Francis warned about now seems to have become a globalization of powerlessness. Faced with injustice and innocent suffering, we are more aware — but risk doing nothing, overcome with a feeling of helplessness. Yet history is saved by the humble, the just, and martyrs, in whom goodness shines and humanity endures and is reborn."

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