Pope Leo urges protection and cultivation of even small signs of peace

- Cindy Wooden, Vatican City, CNS

The “logic of opposition” that dominates both global and national politics is “the most current factor in a planetary destabilization that is becoming increasingly dramatic and unpredictable.” So wrote Pope Leo XIV in his message for World Peace Day.

“It is no coincidence that repeated calls to increase military spending and the decisions that this entails are presented by many leaders as justification for the danger posed by others,” he said in his message for the January 1 celebration.

But peace must be protected and cultivated, said Pope Leo. “Even if it is fought against inside and outside of us, like a small flame threatened by the storm, let us take care of it,” he writes.

The logic of war, the logic of armaments

Over the next year, Pope Leo will give visiting heads of state signed copies of his message, which was published by the Vatican on December 18. And Vatican ambassadors will distribute it to government leaders in the countries where they serve.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented the message at a press conference at the Vatican. “In a way, we have been forced to accept the logic of war, the logic of armaments, the logic of enemies,» said the cardinal. 

Their first victory: giving up our hope for peace

Pope Leo's message acknowledges that “the first triumph of the logic of war is that we give up our hope for peace.”.

“I am not a soldier, I never have been,” said the cardinal. But “even a soldier can feel comforted” by Pope Leo's call to cultivate “peace in his heart, in his relationships, in his prayer, and in his aspirations.”.

Although the message “does not in any way minimize the horrors that surround us,” he said, “it makes us largely responsible.”.

A duty for all religious leaders

The theme of the Pope's message, ‘Peace be with you all: towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace," begins with the first words he addressed to the crowd in St. Peter's Square on May 8. It was the night of his election.

Pope Leo added in his message that he and all religious leaders have an obligation to teach and preach against “the growing attempt to turn even thoughts and words into weapons.” And to condemn the use of religion to justify violence and exaggerated forms of nationalism.

They drag words of faith into political combat

“Unfortunately, it is increasingly part of the contemporary landscape to drag the words of faith into political combat, to bless nationalism, and to religiously justify violence and armed struggle,” writes the Pope.

“Believers must actively refute, above all with their lives, those forms of blasphemy that tarnish the Holy Name of God,» says Pope Leo. What is needed, instead, he said, is prayer, spirituality, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue “as paths of peace and languages of encounter between traditions and cultures.”.

Promote unity, understanding, and respect 

The message echoed what Pope Leo had told reporters on December 2, after meeting with Christian, Muslim, and Druze leaders in Turkey and Lebanon during his first trip abroad.

“The more we promote genuine unity and understanding, respect, and human relationships of friendship and dialogue in the world, the greater the possibility that we will put aside the weapons of war. And that we will put aside the mistrust, hatred, and animosity that has so often built up, and find ways to unite and be able to promote genuine peace and justice throughout the world.”.

First, believe that peace is possible.  

The first step in sowing peace, says the Holy Father, is to believe that peace is possible and that all people desire it.

“When we treat peace as a distant ideal,” he said in his message for World Peace Day, “we end up not considering it scandalous that it is denied, and even that war is waged to achieve it.”.

“If peace is not a reality that is experienced, safeguarded, and cultivated, aggression spreads in domestic and public life,» he said. When that happens, “we come to consider it a fault that we are not sufficiently prepared for war, to react to attacks, to respond to aggression.”.

Statistics show that this is already happening, the Pope pointed out.

Defense spending in 2024, 9.4% more than in 2023

Global military spending in 2024 “increased by 9.4% compared to the previous year, confirming the uninterrupted trend of the last ten years and reaching $2.718 trillion, or 2.51% of global GDP,” he said, citing studies by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Threats are spreading

Pope Leo has also denounced a shift in education and the media. Instead of focusing on the achievements in peacemaking and diplomacy since World War II and remembering with horror how many people died in that war, threats are being spread.

In other words, the Pontiff has denounced that “communication campaigns and educational programs are promoted in schools and universities, as well as in the media, which spread the perception of threats and convey a purely armed notion of defense and security.”.

AI-controlled lethal automated weapons

This change is particularly frightening given advances in weapons technology, particularly the development of drones, robots, and other lethal automated weapons systems that can be controlled by artificial intelligence.

«A process of political and military leaders relinquishing responsibility is even taking shape, as decisions that affect the life and death of human beings are increasingly being ‘delegated’ to machines,” he wrote.

“Kindness is disarming.”

Pope Leo has asked Christians and all people of good will to join forces “to contribute reciprocally to a disarming peace, a peace that springs from openness and evangelical humility.”.

“Kindness is disarming,” he added. “Perhaps that is why God became a child.”.

Pope Leo prays that, as the Jubilee Year draws to a close, its legacy will be a “disarmament of the heart, mind, and life.”.