Diarmuid Pepper Reporting from Naples

AS POPE LEO XIV prepared to celebrate a year in office this week, Vatican News pointedly noted that the pontiff has made over 400 appeals for peace during this time.

Indeed, his first words from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica just over a year ago were “peace be with all of you”.

Later in that same speech, his first as pope, Leo spoke of an “unarmed and disarming peace,” a phrase he has continually returned to.

Pope Leo appearing from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica after his election Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

And in remarks to representatives of the media a few days after becoming pope, Leo cautioned that journalists are “on the front lines” of working towards peace.

“You are capable of leading us out of the Tower of Babel in which we sometimes find ourselves, out of the confusion of loveless languages, often ideological or partisan.”

He has spoken out against the fact that billions of dollars are spent to “kill and devastate, while the resources needed to heal, educate and lift people up cannot be found”.

In pointed remarks on Palm Sunday, he also remarked that God “does not listen to the prayer of those who wage war, and rejects it”.

And in a Mass in Pompeii to mark a year in office, Leo cautioned that “we cannot resign ourselves to the images of death that the news presents to us every day”.

But while Leo’s calls for peace have been winning him plaudits in many quarters, including most recently from Poland prime minister Donald Tusk and Britain’s King Charles, it has also placed him on an unlikely collision course with US president Donald Trump.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that Leo wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon, despite Leo and the Catholic Church being steadfast in their opposition to nuclear arms and in their calls for nuclear disarmament.

Leo has since called on Trump to speak “truthfully” in his criticisms.

Meanwhile, Trump told reporters that before the meeting between Leo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week, he told Rubio to “tell the pope very nicely, very respectfully, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon – also tell the pope that Iran killed 42,000 innocent protesters who didn’t have guns”.

An NBC News poll in March among US voters found that Leo is the most favourably viewed popular American figure, far outranking Trump.

However, a poll this week found that 30% of US adults are against Leo “urging peace and rejecting war”.

Pope Leo marked a surprisingly whirlwind year in office with a visit to Pompeii and then Naples on Friday.

Outside Naples Cathedral, a young man wore a t-shirt made for the occasion that depicted a cartoon Leo with a lion.

He told The Journal that the Pope’s repeated calls for peace are the “most important” part of his papacy and remarked that “we should, as Christians, follow his example”.

When it was put to him that this message of peace has seemed to irk Trump, he paused before describing the US president, somewhat diplomatically, as an “interesting figure”.

“He is creating damage, but the Pope’s mission is to build peace, and I think that he will not stop preaching for anyone.”

The young man was from Naples and said he felt that young people were excited about the Pope’s visit and that Leo would receive a big welcome.

Pope Leo offered a pizza on his visit to Naples Vartican News Vartican News

And while the atmosphere in Naples was somewhat muted on the morning of his visit, it certainly ramped up as his arrival drew closer.

In his remarks from Naples Cathedral, Leo recalled the words of his predecessor Pope Francis during his visit to Naples in 2015:

Life in Naples has never been easy, but it has never been sad. This is your great resource: joy.

From there, Leo visited the Piazza del Plebiscito to address the city but there were a lot of empty seats.

But when Leo arrived, there was lots of noise as the piazza welcomed the pope.

Pope Leo expected soon at the Piazza del Plebiscito but the crowds are somewhat sparse. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/LNiRFcTQql

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 8, 2026

Leo remarked that Naples “often walks tired, disorientated and disappointed”.

However, he added that in Naples there is a “longing for justice and good that cannot be overwhelmed by evil”.

Leo said Naples is “experiencing a dramatic paradox: the remarkable growth of tourists struggles to match an economic dynamism capable of really involving the entire social community”.

He said the city is “still marked by a social gap” and that there are many areas of Naples marked by “inequality and poverty, fuelled by problems that have not been solved for a long time”.

Loud applause for Pope Leo as he address the crowd in Naples. He said the city has a “desire to be redeemed from evil and healed of its wounds”. pic.twitter.com/db8FOUQCik

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 8, 2026

Leo said there are many in Naples who “cultivate the desire for a city redeemed from evil and healed from its wounds”.

He called for civil society to work with the Church to “return Naples to its call to be a capital of humanity”.

Leo also said Naples “reveals its deep heart in the reception of migrants and refugees” and that this is experienced “not as an emergency but as an opportunity for mutual enrichment”.

The pope remarked that Naples “needs this gasp, this disruptive energy of good” and called on young people to “contribute creatively to the construction of the good”.