French President Emmanuel Macron said he called Pope Leo XIV and talked about efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and Gaza in his first conversation with the new pontiff, AFP reports.

In a "first exchange of views," the two "addressed efforts to silence weapons wherever conflicts rage in the world, and in particular to achieve a solid and lasting peace in Ukraine and Gaza," Macron wrote on X.

"We share the ambition to combine the fight against poverty and the preservation of the planet," the French president said. He added that he had "once again congratulated" the Pope on his election as head of the Catholic Church last week.

Although Macron is not scheduled to join the world leaders who will attend Pope Leo XIV's inaugural mass in Rome on the morning of May 18, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will attend. | BGNES