Pope Leo XIV, the first American to head the global Catholic Church, pledged on Wednesday to make "every effort" for peace and offered the Vatican as a mediator in global conflicts, saying war was "never inevitable".

It is likely still too early for the new Pope Leo XIV to visit Kyiv. For now, he cannot respond to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's invitation, said the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, according to La Repubblica.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV vowed to take “every effort” Wednesday to work for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and to actively promote the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Mideast and eastern Europe that have been decimated by years of conflict and persecution.