He continues to pronounce words of peace and nonviolence that contradict those armed rulers with the helmet of Pope Leo XIV.
Yesterday at the Angelus from St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the feast of St. Stephen – who Christians celebrate as the first martyr – the pontiff encouraged “those who commit themselves in conflict situations to promote dialogue, reconciliation and peace”. But above all he defended and indicated as a virtuous example the pacifists, who are increasingly branded as naive beautiful souls by those who instead focus only on the dissuasion and deterrence capacity of weapons, but who so far have only produced destruction and death, obviously in the name of building peace. «In the conditions of uncertainty and suffering of the current world, joy would seem impossible – said Leone. Those who today believe in peace and have chosen the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs are often ridiculed, pushed out of public discourse and often accused of favoring adversaries and enemies”, while that of dialogue is “a truer force than that of weapons”.
In recent days, appeals for peace and calls for disarmament have multiplied from Pope Prevost, who has decidedly taken a Bergoglian line, despite having a more pro-European position on Ukraine than that of his predecessor, who has never been particularly popular in the Kiev area.
On Christmas Day, in the traditional Urbi et Orbi message from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo invited us to pray “in a particular way for the tormented Ukrainian people”, adding: “Let the clash of weapons stop and the parties involved, supported by the commitment of the international community, find the courage to dialogue in a sincere, direct and respectful way”. And shortly before in the mass in the basilica, which unlike his predecessors he wanted to preside directly – the last one was John Paul II in 1994, then it was always entrusted to a cardinal of the curia -, without going so far as to glorify desertion, he nevertheless clearly criticized the forced enlistment of soldiers: «The minds and lives of young people forced into arms are fragile, and right at the front they feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the lie which is imbued in the bombastic speeches of those who send them to their deaths”, he said during the homily.
The broader message was the one prepared for the 59th World Day of Peace, scheduled for January 1st. Making explicit reference to the strong increase in military spending (2,718 billion dollars in 2024, 9.4% more than the previous year), the pontiff wrote that it is “scandalous” that “war is waged to achieve peace” and that we come to “consider it a fault that we do not prepare enough for war”. In a logic of opposition that goes “far beyond the principle of self-defense”, he added, “the repeated calls to increase military spending and the resulting choices are presented by many governments with the justification of the dangerousness of others. The dissuasive force of power, and, in particular, nuclear deterrence, embody the irrationality of a relationship between peoples based not on law, justice and trust, but on fear and the dominion of force.” An appeal that seems to have remained completely unheard.
