Human fraternity is an urgent necessity, Pope writes in Zayed Award message

In a message for the International Day of Human Fraternity and the awarding of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to “what is most precious and universal in our humanity: our fraternity, that unbreakable bond which unites every human being, created in the image of God.”

“Today, the need for this fraternity is not a distant ideal but an urgent necessity,” Pope Leo wrote in his message, dated January 22 and released on February 4. “We cannot ignore the fact that too many of our brothers and sisters are currently suffering the horrors of violence and war.”

Paying tribute to the award recipients, the Pope said:

Our laureates—His Excellency Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Ms. Zarqa Yaftali and Palestinian organization Taawon—are sowers of hope in a world that too often builds walls instead of bridges. By choosing the demanding path of solidarity over the easy path of indifference, they have demonstrated that even the most deep-seated divisions can be healed through concrete action. Their work bears witness to the conviction that the light of fraternity can prevail over the darkness of fratricide.