Pope Leo will not make Assisi visit to aid recovery after surgery
Pope Leo XIV will not attend the October 27 “Unarmed and Disarming Peace” meeting in Assisi on his doctors’ advice after recent thoracic surgery. A follow-up chest X-ray showed that his postoperative recovery is progressing very well, but doctors advised against the planned helicopter journey so soon after surgery. The Pope will send a message to the meeting’s organizers and participants, affirming the value of interreligious dialogue and the search for peace. The October 25–27 gathering, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, marks 40 years since the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened by Pope John Paul II and is expected to welcome 384 participants from 53 countries.
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Pope Leo XIV has canceled his October 27 visit to Assisi after doctors advised against the helicopter journey while he recovers from lung surgery. The Vatican says his recovery is progressing very well; he will send a message to the gathering instead. 1 6
The Holy See Press Office said the decision followed a scheduled follow-up chest X-ray, which confirmed that Leo’s postoperative recovery was going very well. Because little time had passed since his October 13 surgery, his doctors recommended avoiding the planned helicopter trip as a precaution. 1 5
Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung. Subsequent tests found a localized lung adenocarcinoma, and the Vatican said on October 21 that no further treatment was necessary. 1 5 6
The October 25–27 event, organized by the Sant’Egidio Community, is titled “Unarmed and Disarming Peace” and marks 40 years since St. John Paul II convened the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi in 1986. It brings together leaders and representatives of Christian denominations and other religions, along with other guests. 1 5
Leo had been scheduled to attend the closing day, join Christian leaders for a prayer service, and address participants. Instead, he will send a message expressing his closeness to those attending and reaffirming his view that the “Spirit of Assisi,” dialogue, and efforts to find words and gestures of peace are valuable amid conflict. 1 5
The cancellation concerns the Assisi helicopter journey; it does not itself indicate a problem with the pope’s recovery. Leo is scheduled to travel to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17, though his activities during recovery will follow medical advice. 6 2*
Interreligious dialogue and the Catholic Church’s pursuit of peace amid conflict
Interreligious dialogue is part of the Catholic Church’s pursuit of peace because it can build trust, counter hostility, and help people of different faiths work for the common good. It does not require Catholics to hide or abandon their faith, nor does it mean treating all religious claims as interchangeable. The Church presents dialogue as a truthful, respectful encounter that should lead to practical cooperation, reconciliation, and a public rejection of violence committed in religion’s name.
Conflict can deepen when religious, cultural, and ethnic identities overlap: hostility toward a group may then be expressed as hostility toward its faith. John Paul II warned that religion must not become a pretext for conflict and called on religious leaders to show, through both teaching and action, how faith can encourage peace, solidarity, justice, and liberty. His point is not that religion alone causes conflict, but that religious communities have a responsibility not to excuse violence and to make their peace-promoting convictions visible.
Dialogue can help interrupt that pattern by making room for direct encounter rather than suspicion, caricature, or mutual condemnation. John Paul II described the goal as relationships marked by openness and trust, joined to concern for the well-being of the whole human family. Pope Francis similarly urged dialogue “with everyone,” inviting people to see someone of another religion not as a threat but as a valued partner, while respecting real differences.
“Religion is not, and must not become a pretext for conflict, particularly when religious, cultural and ethnic identity coincide.”
This warning places a responsibility on religious believers: to speak clearly against the misuse of religion and to embody a different possibility through conduct. John Paul II stressed that teaching, though indispensable, is not enough; it must be translated into action. Dialogue therefore matters not only as a conversation among leaders, but also as a way of forming relationships and patterns of cooperation that resist hatred.
Catholic dialogue is not religious relativism—the view that religious differences do not matter—or syncretism, the blending of religions into a single faith. Benedict XVI taught that the Church can recognize what is true and holy in other religions while continuing to proclaim Christ as the fullness of religious life. Respect for another tradition and fidelity to Catholic belief are not opposites: dialogue is possible precisely as an honest encounter between people who do not pretend to believe the same things.
Francis made the same distinction in emphasizing that dialogue and evangelization are not mutually exclusive. Catholics are not to manipulate others into conversion or conceal what they believe in order to appear agreeable. Rather, authentic encounter requires respect for others’ convictions and the freedom to express one’s own. A relationship in which participants pretend to renounce what matters most to them would be, in his words, a “false fraternity.”
This approach also requires humility: listening seriously, acknowledging the other person’s dignity, and resisting the temptation to reduce a whole religious community to the actions of particular individuals or political movements. The Church’s sources do not suggest that dialogue erases disagreement or guarantees agreement. They present it as a way to seek understanding and cooperate where possible without denying genuine differences.
Dialogue is especially important when conflict has already caused injury. John Paul II cautioned that peace cannot simply be declared into existence: amid conflict, it requires reconciliation, and reconciliation requires humility and generosity. In Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, he called for interreligious dialogue to overcome hostility, distrust, condemnation, and invective. He also described the Church’s task as contributing to the overcoming of conflicts and the restoration of concord, including through dialogue with national leaders and international bodies.
Reconciliation does not mean ignoring harm or treating justice as unnecessary. The sources connect peace with justice and liberty, and describe dialogue as a pursuit of better understanding so that peace and justice may be firmly established among citizens. The available texts do not set out a detailed political program for resolving every conflict; they do, however, establish that dialogue should serve human well-being and concord, not hidden interests or the denial of real differences.
The Church’s hope is also spiritual. John Paul II taught that peace is a gift from God, while insisting that people must prepare their hearts for it and undertake the work of reconciliation. That spiritual conviction does not replace human responsibility. Rather, it gives believers a reason to persevere in the difficult work of listening, forgiving where possible, and seeking a just peace.
The Church’s teaching points toward several practical forms of contribution:
The Catholic vision is therefore neither silence about religious differences nor the use of religion to divide. It is a disciplined form of encounter: truthful about belief, respectful toward others, opposed to hatred and violence, and directed toward reconciliation and the common good. In the midst of conflict, dialogue cannot by itself guarantee peace, but the Church regards it as an important means of preparing for peace and helping believers become credible witnesses to it.