WASHINGTON – Echoing the message Pope Leo XIV delivered at the Sunday Angelus, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, reminded the faithful: “Peace is built on respect for people.”

“Today, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that ‘the Gospel must be proclaimed and lived in every setting, serving as a leaven of fraternity and peace among all individuals, cultures, religions and peoples.’

“It is with this in mind that I prayerfully urge calm, restraint, and respect for human life in Minneapolis, and all those places where peace is threatened. Public authorities, especially, have a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of people in service to the common good. 

“As a nation, we must come together in dialogue, turning away from dehumanizing rhetoric and acts which threaten human life. In this spirit, in unity with Pope Leo, it is important to proclaim, ‘Peace is built on respect for people!’”