Religious leaders from around the world congratulate Pope Francis on tenth anniversary

Pope Francis wished 'Peace' for the tenth anniversary of the pontificate in a Popecast on March 13.

Pope Francis is sure what to ask of the world as a gift for this anniversary: "Peace, we need peace."

The Popecast is the podcast produced by the Vatican media on the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' pontificate.

Pope Francis shared his feeling on this tenth anniversary, "Time flies… it's in a hurry. When you want to grasp today, it is already yesterday. To live like this is something new. These ten years have been like this: living in tension."

There have been several bad moments related to war.

"Behind the wars, there is the arms industry, this is diabolical," Pope Francis remarked.

He, a bishop who "came from the end of the earth," did not expect to be the Pope leading the Universal Church in World War III: "Wasn't expecting it. I thought Syria was going to be unique, then came the others," Pope Francis recalled.

"It makes me suffer to see young men dying – be they Russian or Ukrainian, I don't care - they are not coming back. It is hard," the Pope said with grief.

Religious leaders from around the world congratulated and sent well wishes on the 10th Anniversary of Pope Francis' pontificate.

Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, head of the Armenian Catholic Church, commended Pope Francis' papacy had been "ten years in which the Armenian people – not just Catholics, but Orthodox and Protestants too – have felt closer to the heart of the successor of Peter."

European bishops also sent a congratulatory message on the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' papacy by citing the Pope's speeches about Europe.

"Ten years have passed," the Italian bishops wrote, "since that 'good evening' which introduced you to the Church and to the whole world. From that moment, your words and your gestures have continued to move hearts, to surprise, to speak to each and every one of us."

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, congratulated Pope Francis' 10-year effort of fostering love and fraternity in all human beings and the pursuit of peace.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, praised Pope Francis, "Over these ten years, our friendship and collaboration, especially in the ministry of bringing comfort and peace to all God's people, and in the mandate to promote care and healing for all God's Creation, have brought us closer together in our common conviction and commitment to see the face and welcome the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the least of our suffering brothers and sisters,"

Rabbi Abraham Skorka, co-author of "On Heaven and Earth" with Pope Francis, congratulated him on 10 years of papacy.

Rabbi Skorka expressed that the most important feature of Pope Francis' interactions with the Jewish community is the unquestionably sincere affection for Jews that he constantly demonstrates.

"It seems to me that most Jews feel the same way about him. May that mutual fondness be the model of Catholic and Jewish interactions for all generations to come!" Rabbi Skorka added. - With inputs from Vatican News