ISTANBUL

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday warned that no one can use Jesus to justify war, saying he rejects violence and those who wage it.

“Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the pope said during his Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Square, according to Vatican News.

He said Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

“Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!” he added.

The pope also prayed for victims of violence.

“Holy Mary, woman of the third day, grant us the certainty that, in spite of all, death will no longer hold sway over us; that the injustices of peoples are numbered; that the flashes of war are fading into the twilight; that the sufferings of the poor are breathing their last,” he said.