POPE Leo XIV said on Sunday that God could not be used to justify violence or war, warning that “God cannot be enlisted by darkness”.
The pope made the remarks during a pastoral visit to the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rome, where he celebrated Mass on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare Sunday.
Before the Mass, Leo XIV met with various parish groups, including children, young people, families, the sick, the elderly, and the poor assisted by volunteers from Caritas, the Catholic Church’s charitable aid network, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based Catholic lay community known for its service to the poor and peacemaking efforts.
In his homily, the pope reflected on the suffering caused by armed conflicts around the world.
“Many of our brothers and sisters today suffer because of violent conflicts, caused by the absurd claim that problems and differences can be resolved with war,” he said.
“Instead, we must tirelessly pursue dialogue for peace.”
“Some even claim to involve the name of God in these choices of death.
“But God cannot be enlisted by darkness. Rather, he always comes to give light, hope and peace to humanity — and it is peace that those who invoke him must seek.”
Reflecting on the Gospel story of the man born blind, Pope Leo XIV said the passage taught believers to see others with the eyes of God.
To see in this way, he said, meant overcoming prejudice — especially the tendency to look at someone who suffered “only as an outcast to be despised or a problem to be avoided,” retreating into “the fortified tower of selfish individualism.”
Jesus, by contrast, looks at the blind man with love, “not as an inferior being or a nuisance, but as a person who is dear and in need of help,” the pope said.
By healing him, Jesus revealed his divine power and restored the man’s dignity as a creature made in the image and likeness of God. Having regained his sight, the man became “a witness to the light,” the pope said.
He also warned of another form of blindness — the refusal to recognise God’s presence.
Those who accused Jesus and the healed man, he said, showed a deeper blindness – failing to see “right before them the face of God,” preferring instead the sterile security of rigid legalism.
“Jesus does not stop before such obstinacy,” the pope said, showing that “there is no Sabbath that can hinder an act of love.”
The pope also urged Christians to examine their own lives.
“We too can be blind when we fail to notice others and their problems,” he said.
The first Christian community, he said, understood the call to live differently — sharing their goods, persevering in prayer, and living in communion and peace despite trials.
