The pontiff held his first meeting with the news media at the Vatican and called on reporters to choose “the path of communication in favor of peace.”

Pope Leo XIV called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff that featured some symbolic gestures suggesting a message of unity in a polarized Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV conducted a private Mass at the tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican Grottoes, after which he prayed silently at the tombs of his predecessors. In his homily, he spoke about the Good Shepherd,