Eight decades after the end of World War II, Father George Zabelka exists as a symbol of conscience, one who can communicate the message of Gospel nonviolence.

Observers around the world have grown weary of the images of starving children and desperate people gunned down while trying to collect bags of flour or boxes of food.

"I again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict," Pope Leo said.

A brief opening to shore up progress toward stability in Syria unfortunately coincides with Trump administration decisions to sharply curtail humanitarian and development assistance and to terminate the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In a July 17 telegram, Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.”

July 16 marks 80 years since the first atomic bomb was detonated. The specter of nuclear annihilation has been with us ever since.