Pope Leo XIV spoke over the telephone with the presidents of Israel and Ukraine on Good Friday, urging diplomatic solutions and humanitarian support amid the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Europe.

Pope Leo XIV washed and kissed the feet of 12 priests on Holy Thursday in his first Easter Triduum liturgy as pope, saying that Jesus taught us how to love like he loves during the Last Supper.

Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to reject comfort, power and domination and instead embrace a mission rooted in self-giving love, even when it requires risk, vulnerability and suffering.

Laypeople are not passive members but active participants in the Church’s mission, called to live and spread the Gospel in everyday life, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV has called on Catholics to pray for priests who find themselves in crisis and to “support those who so often support us.”

Modern cultural influences, including technology and shifting views on identity, risk weakening human relationships and spiritual development, said Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Pope Leo XIV will carry the cross himself through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum on the first Good Friday of his pontificate.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed four U.S.-based scholars and leaders as members of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.

Pope Leo XIV named Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute secretary for general affairs at the Vatican Secretariat of State, as the apostolic nuncio to Italy and the Republic of San Marino, the Vatican said.

Marking the start of Holy Week, Pope Leo XIV used his first Palm Sunday Mass to issue a forceful plea for peace, urging an end to war as he reflected on Christ’s Passion.