Pope Leo XIV Calls for Peace at Interfaith Gathering in Metz

Pope Leo XIV called on religious leaders to spread messages of peace and unity on Monday, closing his four-day visit to France with an interreligious meeting in the eastern city of Metz.

The gathering was held at a conference centre named after Robert Schuman, the French Catholic statesman widely regarded as a founding father of European unity. Metz lies close to the borders with Luxembourg and Germany.

Addressing Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox leaders, the Pope invoked Schuman's record of fostering dialogue even between rivals, saying faith leaders carried a shared duty to build friendships across borders in the name of peace.

"To invoke God's name in order to justify violence or oppression is to profane that name," he said, adding that religious discourse must constantly call for the disarmament of hearts and words.

The Pope said this responsibility rested directly on each religious leader as a guardian of their own tradition. Nothing that undermines human dignity, he added, can claim to be authentically inspired by God.

By choosing to end his trip in Metz, the Pope underlined his appeal for Europe to draw on its tradition of dialogue as it confronts war, migration and polarisation.

Later on Monday, in his final engagement in France, he was scheduled to celebrate Mass at the cathedral of St. Stephen in Metz.