{"id":173929,"date":"2025-12-02T02:34:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pope-at-mass-bring-hope-in-world-where-religion-is-used-to-justify-war-vatican-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T02:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:34:47","slug":"pope-at-mass-bring-hope-in-world-where-religion-is-used-to-justify-war-vatican-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pope-at-mass-bring-hope-in-world-where-religion-is-used-to-justify-war-vatican-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope at Mass: Bring hope in world where religion is used to justify war – Vatican News"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kielce Gussie<\/b>
On his third day in Türkiye, Pope Leo XIV presided at Holy Mass in the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul with hundreds of people \u201con the eve of the day on which the Church commemorates Saint Andrew, Apostle and Patron of this land.\u201d
In his homily<\/a><\/u><\/b> the Pope recalled that November 30 marks the first Sunday of Advent\u2014a time dedicated to preparing for the birth of Christ, who was \u201cbegotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.\u201d
This declaration was solemnly made at the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago\u2014an anniversary central to this Apostolic Journey.
Turning to the first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, the Pope reflected on the invitation to all people to \u201cascend the mountain of the Lord,\u201d and he emphasized the importance of the images present in the passage\u2014Isaiah 2:1-5.
The first image is that of the mountain \u201cestablished as the highest of the mountains,\u201d which is meant to remind us that the fruits of God\u2019s action in our lives are meant to be shared with everyone.
The city of Zion in the Old Testament is set atop a mountain and is placed as a beacon of light for all people from all corners of the earth. This, the Pope stressed, \u201cserves as a reminder that the joy of goodness is contagious.\u201d
The saints, like the Apostles Peter, Andrew, and John, confirm this. Pope Leo argued their example reveals an invitation to \u201crenew the power of our own witness of faith.\u201d
Looking at the words of St. John Chrysostom, the Holy Father highlighted how \u201cthe allure of holiness\u201d is \u201ca sign more eloquent than any miracles.\u201d
Therefore, the Pope explained, if we truly want to help others, we must \u201ckeep watch over ourselves, as the Gospel recommends, by cultivating our faith with prayer and the sacraments.\u201d
But, he warned, we must follow St. Paul\u2019s advice to take on the armor of light rather than the \u201cworks of darkness.\u201d
The second image from the Old Testament text is a world in which peace reigns. The prophet Isaiah describes it as a time when swords will become plowshares, spears used as pruning hooks, and no one shall take up swords against one another.
\u201cHow urgent this call is for us today,\u201d Pope Leo noted, inviting everyone to ask themselves how they can contribute to achieving peace, unity, and reconciliation in the world.
To dive deeper into this call, the Holy Father used the example of the logo of this Apostolic Journey, which showcases a bridge.
It also calls to mind the large viaduct or bridge connecting the Asian and European continents across the Bosporus Strait. Two more crossings have been built, making means of communication and encounter possible.
Pope Leo explained how these three bridges are a reminder for each of us to build our own structures of connection on three levels: \u201cwithin the community, in ecumenical relations with members of other Christian denominations, and in our encounters with brothers and sisters belonging to other religions.\u201d
The first bond of unity is within the Catholic Church, which in Türkiye is made up of four liturgical traditions: Latin, Armenian, Chaldean, and Syriac.
\u201cEach,\u201d he stressed, \u201ccontributes its own spiritual, historical, and ecclesial richness.\u201d When we appreciate the differences, we create a catholicity that unites.
Yet, these bridges we build\u2014like the one over the Bosphorus Strait\u2014need care, attention, and maintenance to withstand time and challenges.
The second bond of unity is ecumenism, which is evident in this Mass through the presence of representatives of other Christian Confessions.
Pope Leo noted that \u201cthe same faith in Jesus our Savior unites not only those of us within the Catholic Church, but all our brothers and sisters belonging to other Christian Churches."
The ecumenical prayer meeting at Iznik on November 28 was a prime example of this, and it is a path \u201calong which we have been walking together for some time.\u201d
The third and final bond of unity is with people of non-Christian communities. In a world \u201cwhere religion is too often used to justify wars and atrocities,\u201d the Second Vatican Council reiterated how \u201cwhoever does not love does not know God.\u201d  
Therefore, the Pope urged everyone to walk together and appreciate the things that unite us.
We must break down the walls \u201cof prejudice and mistrust, promoting mutual knowledge and esteem," he said, so that we can be messengers of hope and an invitation to becoming peacemakers.
Closing, Pope Leo XIV challenged everyone to use the Advent season to \u201cmake these values our resolutions,\u201d remembering that we are on a journey to Heaven.
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By Kielce GussieOn his third day in Türkiye, Pope Leo XIV presided at Holy Mass in the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul with hundreds of people \u201con the eve of the day on which the Church commemorates Saint Andrew, Apostle and Patron of this land.\u201dIn his homily the Pope recalled that November 30 marks the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-173929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}