the poignant ceremony known as the Way of the Cross was Sarah, a Palestinian Catholic. “We need peace in the Holy Land,” she told AFP. “People like you and me listen, but governments don’t. They still do whatever they want. They don’t listen. They promise and they don’t deliver,” the 61-year-old said. Geryes Bejjani, a 33-year-old Lebanese man, said he had come with friends to “carry a message of peace and coexistence,” despite the difficulty of travelling from his homeland, which has been drawn into the war.

“The pope is the only purely selfless political leader. There’s no hidden agenda, there’s no ambiguity in his message. And that’s his strength,” he said. Leo, the first US-born pope, has repeatedly and with increasing urgency called for peace in the Middle East. This week, he directly urged Donald Trump to find an “off-ramp.” “Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing,” he said.

The United States and Israel sparked the conflict on February 28 by bombing Iran, which retaliated with strikes against Gulf states and an effective chokehold on the vital Strait of Hormuz. “If only Trump would listen to anyone!” said Ines Duplessis, 29, who travelled from Paris to attend the Colosseum ceremony. Attendees held candles in silence, broken only by liturgical chants and recited prayers.

“For me, it’s very symbolic, but nothing more,” she said of the pope’s appeals. “Sadly, everything is so driven by political and economic interests that it’s a bit of a lost cause.” On Sunday, Leo will preside over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square before delivering a traditionally political blessing, which is especially anticipated this year. (Bssnews)