Pope Leo XIV stated that the family unit is rooted in the “stable union between a man and a woman.”
“It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman, a small but genuine society, and prior to all civil society,” he declared during his address to the Diplomatic Corps.
The pope went on to state that the unborn are to be protected.
“In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV further stated that truth is essential for the Church, including using “blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding” when necessary.
“Truly peaceful relationships cannot be built, also within the international community, apart from truth,” he declared, adding that “from the Christian perspective, truth is not the affirmation of abstract and disembodied principles, but an encounter with the person of Christ himself, alive in the midst of the community of believers.”
Pope Leo XIV similarly emphasized the concept of peace during his first public address. “Peace begins with each one of us – in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others,” the Pontiff said, speaking to journalists in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican. “We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war,” he continued.
