Pope Leo XIV launched an appeal on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Myanmar, where intermittent fighting – ongoing since 2021 – intensified over the past several weeks.

“I renew my heartfelt appeal for an immediate and effective ceasefire,” he said. “May the instruments of war give way to those of peace through inclusive and constructive dialogue!”

On Saturday, Myanmar’s ruling military junta announced the recapture, by government forces, of a rebel holdout in the north of the country, after more than two weeks of intense fighting.

“The news from Myanmar is sadly distressing,” the pontiff said, adding that he is “spiritually close to those who are suffering as a result of the violence, insecurity and many hardships.”

Myanmar’s civil war erupted in the early spring of 2021, following a military coup in which officers of the country’s armed forces seized power from a civilian government that had been trying by fits and starts to lead the nation on a path to democracy.

United Nations estimates from March 2023 say that nearly 18 million people had by that point in the conflict already come to require humanitarian assistance, while more than 1.5 million people had been displaced and scores of thousands of civilian buildings had been completely destroyed.

Pope Francis visited Myanmar in the autumn of 2017, when a long-running campaign of ethnic cleansing was already being perpetrated against Myanmar’s largely Muslim Rohingya minority.

The current civil strife involves government forces pitted against a loose coalition of armed pro-democracy political opposition groups and various ethnic resistance forces.

Pope Leo XIV made his remarks at the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday – World Mission Sunday 2025 – which followed Mass for the canonization of seven new saints.

The pontiff prayed for peace everywhere in the world, especially in the Holy Land – where there is a shaky ceasefire in place halting the war between Israel and Hamas militants that raged for two years after Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and captured 251 others – and Ukraine, where Russia continues to prosecute a war of aggression.

“May God grant all leaders wisdom and perseverance to advance in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace,” Leo said.