Vatican City, May 11 (ANI): In his first Sunday address, new US-born Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace worldwide, specifically mentioning the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and welcoming the ceasefire between India and Pakistan on May 10.

Welcoming the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Pope Leo XIV expressed hope that the forthcoming negotiations would lead to a lasting agreement between the two nations.

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'I am pleased by the announcement of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and I hope that through the forthcoming negotiations a lasting agreement will soon be reached,' Pope Leo XIV said on X.

'I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,' Pope Leo XIV said, urging for an 'authentic, just and lasting peace as soon as possible' in Ukraine.

He also called for the release of prisoners and the reunification of children with their families.

'May all the prisoners be freed and may the children return to their families,' he said.

Regarding the Gaza Strip, the Pope expressed deep sadness over the ongoing conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire.

'I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip. Cease fire immediately! Let humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population, and let all hostages be freed,' he said.

Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, was elected Thursday, becoming the first US-born Pope. This news surprised and delighted many Catholics across the Americas, CNN reported.

In his first formal meeting with cardinals, which began with a standing ovation, the new pontiff said he chose his papal name to continue down the path of Pope Leo XIII, who addressed 'the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.'

Pope Leo XIII ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1878 until he died in 1903 and is remembered as a pope of Catholic social teaching. He wrote a famous open letter to all Catholics in 1891, called 'Rerum Novarum' ('Of Revolutionary Change'), which reflected on the destruction wrought by the Industrial Revolution on the lives of workers.

'In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,' the new American pontiff said Saturday, speaking in fluent Italian, as quoted by CNN.

Wearing the white robes of the papacy, he strongly signalled to the cardinals that his leadership would build upon Pope Francis's church reforms and legacy of social justice. (ANI)