In his message for the World Day of Human Fraternity and the presentation of the Zayed Award, Pope Leo XIV describes fraternity as an urgent necessity, stronger than conflicts, differences and tensions, while warning against leaving it trapped in the realm of ideas.
By Edoardo Giribaldi and Francesca Merlo
In a world where peace is often dismissed as an outdated utopia and fraternity reduced to an abstract ideal, Pope Leo XIV insists that human fraternity is not a theory but an urgent necessity. This is the central message of the text published on 4 February for the World Day of Human Fraternity and the presentation of the Zayed Award, in which the Pope calls for a fraternity stronger than conflicts, differences and tensions.
The urgent necessity of fraternity
The Pope recalls the seventh anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb – an occasion that makes it possible to celebrate “what is most precious and universal in our humanity: our fraternity, that unbreakable bond which unites every human being, created in the image of God”.
“Today, the need for this fraternity is not a distant ideal but an urgent necessity”, said the Pope.
Fraternity, the first victim of conflicts
The Holy Father refers to the many – “too many” – brothers and sisters who today suffer the horrors of violence and war, recalling the words of Pope Francis in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti: “The first victim of every war is the human family’s innate vocation to fraternity”.
“At a time when the dream of building peace together is often dismissed as an ‘outdated utopia’, we must proclaim with conviction that human fraternity is a lived reality, stronger than all conflicts, differences and tensions.” A potential, he explains, that must be realised through “a daily, concrete commitment to respect, sharing and compassion”.
Not remaining in the “realm of ideas”
“Words are not enough”, the Pope had already stated last December when addressing the members of the Zayed Award Committee – an appeal he reiterates in this message, recalling that our deepest convictions require “constant cultivation through tangible effort”.
The Pope first refers to his Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, in which he writes that “remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away”. He then returns to Fratelli Tutti: as brothers and sisters, we are all called to move beyond the periphery and “converge in a greater sense of mutual belonging”.
The award recipients are “sowers of hope”
The Zayed Award, the Holy Father continues, pays tribute to those who have translated these values into “authentic testimonies of human kindness and charity”.
Addressing the award recipients directly – Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Ms Zarqa Yaftali; and the Palestinian organisation Taawon – Pope Leo describes them as “sowers of hope in a world that too often builds walls instead of bridges”.
By choosing the demanding path of solidarity over the easy path of indifference, they have shown that even the most deep-seated divisions can be healed through concrete action. Their work bears witness to the conviction that the light of fraternity can prevail over the darkness of fratricide.
May our neighbour no longer be seen as a stranger or a threat
Pope Leo concludes his message by expressing his gratitude to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, for his steadfast support of the initiative, as well as to the Zayed Committee for its “vision and moral conviction”.
Finally, he said, “Let us continue to work together so that the dynamic of fraternal love may become the common path of all, and that the ‘other’ may no longer be seen as a stranger or a threat, but recognised as a brother or a sister.”
