Pope held a meeting with representatives from Eastern Catholic Churches

This was reported by Vatican News.

From May 12 to 14, prayers of various traditions were offered in the papal basilicas, culminating in a meeting with the newly elected Successor of St. Peter.

“I am happy to dedicate one of the first encounters of my pontificate to the Eastern faithful,” the Pope stated to the pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Many of these pilgrims were members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Mukachevo Greek Catholic Diocese.

The Pope addressed the audience and urged them to pray for peace.

“I will make every effort so that peace may prevail. The Holy See is willing to provide space to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may find hope and recover… the dignity of peace. The people are striving for peace, and I say to the leaders of nations, with my hand on my heart: let us meet, engage in dialogue, and negotiate. War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced, as they do not solve problems but only create more. History will remember those who promote peace, not those who cause victims. Our opponents are, first of all, people, not our enemies; they are individuals we should engage with, not vilify. Let us reject the Manichean worldview often seen in violent narratives that divide the world into good and evil.”

The Church, according to the Holy Father, will not stop repeating: “Let the weapons be silenced.”