Religion is the soul of politics and diplomacy, Vatican 'foreign minister' tells global security forum (Vatican News)

Speaking at a global security forum, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, said that religion is the soul of politics and diplomacy, in the sense that it can effect a needed transformation of hearts.

“The war in Ukraine has shattered the illusion that peace in Europe is permanent,” he said at GLOBSEC Forum 2025. “The Holy Land is bleeding. Syria, Yemen, the Sahel: too many places remain trapped in cycles of violence and despair.”

“Peace requires more than governance; it requires a moral vision and the transformation of hearts,” he continued. “The world desires not only the cessation of violence, but also the healing of memories, the mending of relationships and the restoration of hope. And this is where religion must step in, not as a competitor of diplomacy, politics or the structures of society, but as their soul.”

The prelate told forum participants that the Holy See’s approach to peace rests on four pillars:

· “human dignity: every human life is sacred. No peace is possible if even one life is considered expendable.”
· “the common good: peace must be at the service of all, not only of the strong but above all of the poor, the displaced, the forgotten.”
· “solidarity: we are not isolated individuals but a human family. Peace grows through interdependence.”
· “integral human development: as Pope Paul VI stated, ‘Development is the new name for peace.’ But not just any development: it must be integral, to look at every dimension of the human person and of all the peoples of the earth.”