This morning, Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026, history’s first American-born Pope Leo stood before tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome — and delivered one of the most direct, bold, and politically charged Palm Sunday homilies in recent memory.
Pope Leo XIV, presiding over his first Holy Week as pope, used the occasion not to offer comforting platitudes but to issue a clear, unambiguous declaration rooted in the character of Jesus Christ: God is the King of Peace. No one can use Him to justify war. And He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage it.
The Homily That Stopped the World
With the US-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine continuing to claim lives, Pope Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily entirely to the theme of Christ as the peaceful King — and what that means for every nation, every military, and every leader invoking God’s name to justify violence.
“He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence,” said the Pope, reflecting on Jesus walking the Way of the Cross. “He offers Himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs.”
He then reached into the words of the prophet Isaiah — “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15) — and applied them directly to the present moment:
“Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
The crowd in St. Peter’s Square fell quiet. On all sides of the current conflicts, leaders have invoked their Christian faith to frame their military actions. The Pope’s message was addressed to all of them equally.
“Lay Down Your Weapons — You Are Brothers and Sisters”
Pope Leo lamented what he called the “many wounds of the human family” in today’s world — the painful groans of all those oppressed by violence and victimised by war. He called on the faithful gathered in the square, and by extension the global Church, to intercede for a world in pain:
“Their trials appeal to the conscience of all. Let us raise our prayers to the Prince of Peace so that he may support people wounded by war and open concrete paths of reconciliation and peace.”
He concluded with a cry that carried the full weight of the moment:
“Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from His cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”
A First Holy Week Unlike Any Other
This Palm Sunday carries special significance beyond the homily itself. Just one year ago, Pope Francis — visibly frail after a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia — rallied on Easter Sunday to greet the faithful from the loggia of St. Peter’s Square. It was his last public appearance. He died the following morning, Easter Monday, after suffering a stroke.
Pope Leo XIV now leads the Church into Holy Week for the first time. He has signalled a return to several traditional papal practices — including bringing the Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony back to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where popes observed it for decades before Pope Francis moved it to Rome’s prisons and refugee centres.
His full Holy Week schedule at the Vatican:
- ✝️ Holy Thursday, April 2 — Foot-washing ceremony at the Basilica of St. John Lateran
- ⛪ Good Friday, April 3 — Passion of the Lord at St. Peter’s Basilica, 5PM; Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, 9:15PM
- 🕯️ Holy Saturday, April 4 — Easter Vigil Mass, 9PM, St. Peter’s Basilica
- 🌅 Easter Sunday, April 5 — Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Square followed by the Urbi et Orbi blessing to the city and the world
Jerusalem: Blocked from the Holy Sepulchre
Earlier on the same morning as the Pope’s homily, a deeply troubling development unfolded in Jerusalem. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a joint press release confirming that Israeli police had prevented the Catholic Church’s top leadership from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected.
It was reported to be the first time in centuries that church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday at this sacred location. In response, church leaders worldwide called for a special moment of prayer for the Holy City — adding a contemporary urgency to the ancient Palm Sunday liturgy.
The traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem — retracing the very path Jesus walked — was also cancelled this year due to ongoing regional conflict.
What Christians Around the World Are Saying
Across social media, the Pope’s Palm Sunday homily has drawn a powerful response from Christians of all denominations. Many noted that the message transcends Catholic tradition — it is a call rooted in the character of Jesus Himself, who rode into Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a donkey, in humility and peace, heading not toward conquest but toward the cross.
The message resonates particularly strongly across Africa and the Global South, where Christian communities have long borne the heaviest costs of wars they did not start — and where the faith’s deepest longing has always been for a peace that the world cannot give.
Today, on Palm Sunday, the Pope of Rome gave voice to that longing. Not with diplomacy. With Scripture. With the name of Jesus.
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace.”
