Pope Francis at Wednesday audience: ‘Let us do penance for peace’

Pope Francis greets visitors at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Feb 12, 2025 / 10:16 am (CNA).

Pope Francis held his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday despite bronchitis affecting his breathing, with the Holy Father urging people to pray and do penance for peace in the world.  

Making the effort to use his own voice at the end of the audience, the pope earnestly pleaded with Catholics to “do our best” to bring an end to all conflicts. 

“Let us pray for peace, let us even do penance for peace,” the 88-year-old pontiff told pilgrims inside the Paul VI Audience Hall.  

Expressing particular concern for the people of Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Holy Father reminded his listeners that “war is always a defeat.”

“I am thinking about many countries at war,” the pontiff shared with his listeners. “We were not born to kill but to make people grow.” 

The pope asked Father Pierluigi Giroli on Wednesday to read his catechesis on his behalf, after briefly explaining to hundreds of pilgrims that bronchitis is still preventing him from comfortably using his voice at gatherings. “I hope that next time I can,” Francis said. 

Reading the pope’s catechesis on St. Luke’s Gospel, Giroli said: “God does not come into the world with high-sounding proclamations, he does not manifest himself in clamor, but begins his journey in humility.”

“The shepherds thus learn that in a very humble place, reserved for animals, the long-awaited Messiah is born and is born for them, to be their Savior, their Shepherd,” he continued. 

Noting the shepherds’ openness to receive the news of the coming of Jesus, the pope’s catechesis emphasized that it is “the humblest and the poorest who are able to welcome the event of the Incarnation.” 

“Brothers and sisters, let us also ask for the grace to be, like shepherds, capable of wonder and praise before God,” the pope shared in his prepared remarks.

“Let us ask the Lord to be able to discern in weakness the extraordinary strength of the Child God, who comes to renew the world and transform our lives with his plan full of hope for all humanity,” he added.