In a historic and politically charged moment at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, shook hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska as his inaugural Mass drew to a close.
But the gesture was more than ceremonial.
In his first global address, Pope Leo XIV vowed to make “every effort” to help end the war in Ukraine and later condemned the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying people had been “reduced to famine.” World leaders—including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney—looked on as faith and geopolitics collided in St.
Peter’s Square.
Is the new pope signaling a bold new era of Vatican diplomacy?
Can faith intervene where politics has failed?
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