Pope urges renewed commitment to peace and development in the Sahel

By Vatican News

On Saturday, Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Board of Directors of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, encouraging them to continue their mission of promoting peace, solidarity and integral human development in one of the world’s most fragile regions.

Greeting the delegation in the Vatican the Pope reflected on peace not simply as an aspiration, but as something rooted in eternity itself.

"Peace has the breath of the eternal", he said, recalling Saint Augustine’s invitation to Christians to cultivate an inseparable friendship with peace so that its "radiant warmth" might spread throughout the world.

Founded by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1984 following his appeal in Ouagadougou during his 1980 visit to Burkina Faso, the Foundation was created to support the populations of the Sahel region in West Africa, particularly in the face of desertification, poverty, famine and underdevelopment. Today, the Foundation promotes projects linked to food security, access to water, sustainable agriculture and integral human development across several countries in the region.

A new chapter for the Foundation

Pope Leo thanked Bishop Hassa Florent Koné for his service as Pontifical Delegate under Pope Francis and praised the collaborative work carried out with the Roman Curia and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in guiding the Foundation towards what he described as "a new beginning".

After fourty years of activity, the Pope acknowledged that the Foundation has reached "a turning point", facing external challenges tied to global economic crises and instability. It was in this context, he explained, that the renewal of the Foundation’s mission and structure became necessary.

The Board meeting held in Dakar in February marked a significant step in that renewal, with the adoption of new statutes, the election of a new president and the appointment of new board members.

"With these new Statutes", Pope Leo said, "the Foundation takes on a new form in continuity with its mission".

Challenges facing the Sahel

Turning to the situation of the Sahel itself, the Holy Father pointed to the many difficulties affecting the region and the wider world: geopolitical tensions, inequality, war, terrorism, insecurity, political and economic instability, and climate crises, whose consequences include growing migration flows.

Against this backdrop, he stressed the Foundation’s role in protecting what Pope Francis called our "common home" and defending human dignity through concrete projects of solidarity and development.

Helping victims of natural disasters and supporting vulnerable people, the Pope said, is "a question of justice before it is one of charity".

For this reason, he welcomed the Board’s unanimous decision to preserve the Foundation as a Pontifical Foundation, remaining faithful to the spirit of its founder, Saint John Paul II.

Pope Leo also encouraged continued collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and other institutions of the Holy See, rooted in subsidiarity and synodality, so as to promote "the inalienable human dignity of the peoples of the Sahel".

Hope amid uncertainty

Bringing his address to a close, the Pope acknowledged that the Foundation’s renewed path will inevitably bring new challenges and uncertainties, Pope Leo nevertheless echoed the words of Pope Francis, insisting that difficulties must be faced together "without losing hope".