VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday hailed Christian communities in the Middle East who “persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them” despite war, marginalization or persecution.
“Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches at the Vatican.
The pope also offered on Wednesday to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail.”
“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace. The peoples of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches.

Pope Leo XIV, the first American to head the global Catholic Church, pledged to make "every effort" for peace and offered the Vatican as a mediator in global conflicts, saying war was "never inevitable".
Leo, who was elected last week to succeed the late Pope Francis, has made repeated calls for peace in the early days of his papacy. His first words to crowds in St Peter's Square were "Peace be with all you".
He returned to the issue while addressing members of the Eastern Catholic Churches, some of which are based in conflict-ridden places such as Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and often face persecution as religious minorities.
"The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face-to-face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace," Leo said.
"War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced, for they do not resolve problems but only increase them. Those who make history are the peacemakers, not those who sow seeds of suffering," he added.
Pope Leo warned against the rise of simplistic narratives that divide the world into good and evil. "Our neighbours are not first our enemies, but fellow human beings," he said.
On Sunday, the pontiff called for an "authentic and lasting peace" in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group Hamas, and welcomed the fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Leo spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday in his first known conversation with a foreign leader as pope. He offered to facilitate peace talks as world leaders come to his inauguration mass, the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelenskiy hopes to be present for the event in St Peter's Square on May 18 and is ready to hold meetings on the sidelines, the Ukrainian leader's chief of staff Andriy Yermak told Reuters on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army on Wednesday urged Yemenis to stay away from Houthi-held ports, in a likely warning of retaliation after it intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed rebels.
The Houthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians, have repeatedly targeted Israel and shipping in the Red Sea since the October 2023 start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted,” said the Israeli military.
AFP correspondents in Jerusalem heard explosions, likely from the interception of the missile.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of the Arabian Peninsula country, claimed responsibility for launching the missile in what they said was their third attack on Israel in less than 24 hours.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said they targeted Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s main gateway near Tel Aviv, using what they called “a hypersonic ballistic missile.”
The Israeli military later warned Yemenis to stay away from three Houthi-held sea ports.
“Due to the use of sea ports by the terrorist Houthi regime... we urge all people present in these ports to evacuate and stay away from them for your safety until further notice,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, mentioning the Yemeni ports of Hodeida, Ras Issa and Salif.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, said the missile threat from Yemen was disrupting daily life.
“While we handle this press conference, there are sirens in Jerusalem and the center of Israel after missiles from the Houthis in Yemen,” he said.
“Millions of Israelis are now running for shelter, and it happens during the time that all the children go to schools or to kindergartens, and this is daily life under these attacks.”
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it intercepted another missile with which the Houthis claimed they targeted Ben Gurion.
Last month, a missile fired by the Iran-backed group struck the grounds of the airport, gouging a hole near its main terminal building and wounding several people, in a rare penetration of Israel’s air defenses.
Israel retaliated against the Houthis by striking the airport in Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital Sanaa and three nearby power stations.
The Israeli military had issued a warning on Sunday for Yemenis to leave three Houthi-controlled ports, but no strikes have been reported since.
The Houthis paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in the Gaza war, but in March threatened to renew them over Israel’s aid blockade on Gaza.
US President Donald Trump, currently in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a tour of the Gulf, last week announced the Houthis had agreed to halt attacks on shipping.
The United States began carrying out strikes against the Houthis in early 2024 under president Joe Biden, and Trump’s administration launched renewed attacks on the rebels in March.
The Pentagon said on April 30 that US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider.”