This was the greeting between two of the world’s foremost diplomatic leaders.
Pope Leo XIV and António Guterres met on Wednesday morning before the general audience. The Secretary-General of the United Nations had just come from France, where he attended a conference on the state of the oceans.
No details of their conversation have been made public, but what is clear is that both leaders share many common goals, starting with peace.
The UN's 2030 Agenda includes the fight against poverty and climate change—something the Vatican has strongly supported, beginning with Pope Francis during his visit to the United Nations in 2015.
On that occasion, Pope Francis delivered a message with a strong social impact.
POPE FRANCIS
The International Financial Agencies should care for the sustainable development of countries and should ensure that they are not subjected to oppressive lending systems which…Which far from promoting progress, subject people to mechanisms which generate greater poverty, exclusion and dependence.
And on the other hand, the Argentinian Pope was quite clear on issues such as gender ideology and the defense of life.
POPE FRANCIS
The defense of the environment and the fight against exclusion demand that we recognize a moral law written into human nature itself, one which includes the natural difference between man and woman, and absolute respect for life in all its stages and dimensions.
Pope Leo XIV has taken up the baton left by his predecessor. In several of his messages, Pope Leo has already emphasized all these concepts, especially in his most political speech to date: the one he delivered to the diplomats accredited to the Holy See.
JRB
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