Pope Leo XIV opened Holy Week on Sunday, March 29, 2026, with a stark warning to those who wage war, telling tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square that God refuses to hear the prayers of blood-stained hands.
With the United States-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to insisting that God is the “King of Peace” who rejects violence and comforts the oppressed.
The pontiff drew from the prophet Isaiah to anchor his message. “Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told the crowd. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
He went further, invoking Isaiah’s rebuke directly: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
The remarks were pointed but unnamed in their target. Their significance sharpened because some political and religious leaders, including United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and leaders in Israel, Iran and Russia, have invoked God’s name when speaking about ongoing wars. The previous week, Hegseth led a Christian worship service at the Pentagon, where he prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
The Pope highlighted how Jesus himself never reached for violence. When one of his disciples struck the high priest’s servant during his arrest, Jesus immediately commanded him to put away his sword. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be led to the cross, revealing what the Pope called “the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”
Pope Leo closed with a prayer drawn from the late Bishop Tonino Bello, asking that “the flashes of war are fading into the twilight” and that “the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun.”
The Palm Sunday ceremony unfolded against additional tension. Earlier on Sunday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced that Israeli police had prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, marking the first time in centuries that church leaders were barred from celebrating Palm Sunday at the site Christians believe Jesus was crucified.
Looking ahead to the rest of Holy Week, Pope Leo will preside over a full schedule of liturgies through Easter Sunday, April 5, including the Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum and the Easter Vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics.
