The pope's State of The World Address

Instead of the United Nations giving us the latest developments in the whole world today, Pope Leo XIV addressed the whole of humanity last January 9 in the Vatican through 184 ambassadors and other diplomats including the Philippine envoy to The Holy See.

- Atty. Josephus B. Jimenez

In the course of his more than one-hour speech, the pope mentioned the following countries in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, and the Middle East, in reference to the state of world peace, and the challenges that humanity faces today: Italy, Kazakhstan, Burundi, Belarus, Turkey, Lebanon, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, the Holy Land, Palestine, Israel, Venezuela, the Caribbean nations, Sudan, South Sudan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The Philippines was not mentioned.

Further, the pope mentioned the following peoples and commended their works in the poor's struggles for peace, justice and for survival amidst poverty, disasters and calamities: the ambassadors, the people of Rome, the Italians, the peoples of Turkey and Lebanon, the sufferings of the people in Bangladesh, the Sahel region in Nigeria, the religious discriminations against Christians in Europe and the Americas, and the poverty exacerbated by climate change in Asia and Africa.