At the Regina Caeli, the pope also thanked the Canary Islands for welcoming a cruise ship with passengers sick with hantavirus.<\/p>\n
VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed for victims of growing violence in the Sahel, thanked the people of the Canary Islands for welcoming a cruise ship carrying people sick with hantavirus, and offered a special blessing for mothers during his Regina Caeli address in St. Peter\u2019s Square.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the Marian prayer May 10, the pope said he had learned \u201cwith deep concern of the reports regarding the growing violence in the Sahel region, particularly in Chad and Mali,\u201d which have recently suffered terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI offer the assurance of my heartfelt prayers for the victims and my spiritual closeness to all those who are suffering as a result of the tragic events,\u201d he said. \u201cI fervently hope that every form of violence may cease, and I encourage all efforts aimed at fostering peace and development in that beloved land.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope also marked the annual \u201cDay of Coptic-Catholic Friendship,\u201d extending \u201cfraternal greetings\u201d to Pope Tawadros II and assuring \u201cthe entire beloved Coptic Church\u201d of his \u201cremembrance in prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my hope that our journey of friendship will lead us to perfect unity in Christ, who has called us \u2018friends,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In Spanish, Pope Leo XIV thanked the people of the Canary Islands who, \u201cwith the hospitality characteristic of them,\u201d welcomed the Hondius cruise ship and the passengers infected with hantavirus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to seeing all of you next month during my visit to the Islands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The pope also offered a Mother\u2019s Day greeting, asking Mary, \u201cthe Mother of Jesus and our own Mother,\u201d to intercede for all mothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us pray with love and gratitude for every mother, particularly those living in very difficult circumstances,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you! May God bless you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the Regina Caeli, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in which Jesus tells his disciples: \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope said the words of Jesus free Christians from the misconception \u201cthat we are loved because we keep the commandments, as if our righteousness were a prerequisite for God\u2019s love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the contrary, God\u2019s love is the basis for our righteousness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 words, he said, are \u201can invitation to enter into a relationship, not a blackmail or a suspicious ultimatum.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lord commands his followers to love one another as he has loved them, Pope Leo said, because \u201cit is Jesus\u2019 love that begets love within us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christ, he said, is \u201cthe standard, the measure of true love: the love that is faithful forever, pure and unconditional,\u201d the love that knows no \u201cbuts\u201d or \u201cmaybes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause God loved us first, we too can love, and when we truly love God, we truly love one another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The pope said the Lord\u2019s commandments are \u201ca way of life that heal us from false loves\u201d and \u201ca spiritual lifestyle that is a path towards salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because God loves his people, the pope continued, he \u201cdoes not leave us alone in life\u2019s trials\u201d but promises the Paraclete, the Advocate, the \u201cSpirit of truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Holy Spirit, he said, is a gift that \u201cthe world cannot receive\u201d as long as it persists in evil, \u201coppressing the poor, excluding the weak and killing the innocent.\u201d But those who respond to Jesus\u2019 love for all \u201cwill find in the Holy Spirit an ally who will never fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pope Leo said Christians can always bear witness to \u201cGod, who is love,\u201d adding that love is \u201cnot an idea of the human mind, but the reality of divine life, through which all things were created out of nothing and redeemed from death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus, he said, shares with believers his identity as the beloved Son: \u201cI am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.\u201d<\/p>\n
This \u201call-encompassing communion of life,\u201d the pope said, refutes the Accuser, the adversary of the Paraclete, who seeks to set humanity against God and people against one another. Jesus does the opposite, he said, \u201csaving us from evil and uniting us as a people of brothers and sisters in the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story\u00a0was first published\u00a0by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n