Pope Leo XIV has called for genuine peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff, Al Jazeera reported.

“No more war,” Leo said on Sunday, adding, “the dramatic scenario of a third world war being fought piecemeal.”

“I too address the world’s great powers by repeating the ever-present call ‘never again war’,” he said from the loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica to an estimated 100,000 people below.

The new pope, who was elected on May 8 after the death of Pope Francis, evoked some of his predecessor’s favoured phrases that called for peace.

Pope Leo said he carries in his heart the “suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine” and appealed for negotiations to reach an “authentic, just and lasting peace”.