Pope Leo XIV stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thunderous applause and an electric atmosphere, to deliver his first Sunday blessing and an address calling for peace in Ukraine and Gaza.

"Never again war," Pope Leo XIV echoed his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, in the newly-chosen pontiff's first Regina Coeli prayer in St Peter's Square in front of the faithful on Sunday. An estimated 150,

Jumping straight into the geopolitical fray, the words of the U.S.-born pontiff are meant to single out Vladimir Putin — a notable difference with Pope Francis. The timing may also be just right to help his fellow American,