In his inaugural annual peace message, Pope Leo XIV delivered a powerful condemnation of contemporary global conflicts, labeling nuclear deterrence strategies as fundamentally irrational and criticizing the exploitation of religious rhetoric for political violence. The pontiff’s address, presented during an emotionally charged Vatican press conference, marked the Catholic Church’s preparation for its World Day of Peace observance on January 1st.
Reflecting on his first words as pontiff—”Peace be with you”—delivered from St. Peter’s Basilica on May 8, Pope Leo challenged the normalization of fear and conflict in modern society. He asserted that treating peace as a distant ideal creates dangerous complacency when violence erupts. “When we treat peace as a distant ideal, we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name,” he declared in the document.
The Pope specifically targeted the intersection of private economic interests with military technological advancement, noting how artificial intelligence is being leveraged to develop increasingly sophisticated weaponry. This convergence, he argued, accelerates the irrational logic of military deterrence that threatens global stability.
In a significant ecumenical appeal, Pope Leo urged all religious communities to resist the temptation to weaponize faith language for violent purposes. “Unfortunately, it has become increasingly common to drag the language of faith into political battles, to bless nationalism, and to justify violence and armed struggle in the name of religion,” he wrote.
The Vatican underscored the message’s urgency by translating it into Russian and Ukrainian alongside its usual eight languages, directly referencing Moscow’s ongoing conflict. The press conference featured poignant testimonies from survivors of European conflicts, including Maria Agnese Moro, daughter of assassinated Italian Premier Aldo Moro, who shared her experience with restorative justice through dialogue with former Red Brigades members. Croatian Catholic priest Rev. Pero Miličević provided a harrowing account of the Bosnian war, describing how his faith enabled him to overcome the trauma of losing 39 family members and surviving imprisonment.
Both witnesses emphasized the transformative power of mutual recognition and forgiveness, with Moro noting that “true listening is a mutual recognition of humanity”—a principle that aligns with the Pope’s vision of achievable peace through genuine dialogue and moral courage.