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Pope Leo sets day of fasting, prayers for peace on Friday
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
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Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Pope Leo has declared August 22 as a day for global fasting and prayer to promote peace in war-torn regions like the Middle East and Ukraine.
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo has asked Catholics and other religious faithful to observe a day of fasting and prayers for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and other war-torn areas of the world on Friday, August 22.
"As our Earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions ... I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer," the pontiff said during his weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.
Leo suggested the faithful could ask God to "grant us peace and justice and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of the ongoing armed conflicts."
Leo, the first U.S. pope, was elected by the world's Catholic cardinals on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis.
He has made several appeals to end the war in Ukraine during the first months of his papacy, and his first known phone call with a foreign leader in May was to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who the pope also met in person in July.
Catholics have a practise of fasting on or before important spiritual holidays as a way of coming closer to God in prayer.
Francis had previously called a special day of fasting and prayer last October, on the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Gavin Jones and)
Pope Leo asked Catholics and other religious faithful to observe a day of fasting and prayers for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine, and other war-torn areas of the world.
The day of fasting and prayer is scheduled for August 22.
Pope Leo has made several appeals to end the war in Ukraine and has called for peace in various conflict regions since the beginning of his papacy.
Catholics practice fasting on or before important spiritual holidays as a way to come closer to God in prayer.
Pope Francis called for a special day of fasting and prayer last October, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war.
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