BY REUTERS

Nigeria, as well as for communities struck by severe flooding and landslides in Portugal, Morocco, Spain and southern Italy.

Nearly 200 people were killed this week in a string of assaults across Nigeria, including 170 in a massacre in Kwara state that prompted President Bola Tinubu to deploy an army battalion.

Addressing pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus message, the pontiff expressed his “closeness in prayer” to all those affected by violence and terrorism, urging authorities to protect every citizen.

Leo also turned his attention to Europe and North Africa, praying for the populations hit by extreme weather, citing the Spanish town of Grazalema in Andalusia and Niscemi in Sicily.

More than 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Spain’s southern Andalusia region, while over 1,600 were displaced in the Sicilian municipality as a major landslide has destabilized the historic center.

Concluding his address, the pope renewed his broader plea for global peace, warning that strategies built on “economic and military power” offer no lasting future for humanity.