‘We must not get used to war’ Pope Leo XIV says in call for peace
Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 18, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on June 18 renewed his strong call for peace, urging people to not “get used to war.”
Addressing pilgrims at the end of Wednesday’s general audience, the pontiff lamented that “the Church is brokenhearted at the cry of pain rising from places devastated by war.”
In particular, he focused on the conflicts in Ukraine, Iran, Israel, and Gaza. “We must not get used to war!” he exclaimed from St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
In this context, he emphasized that “the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected.”
He then cited the Second Vatican Council noting that in modern warfare, “every kind of weapon produced by modern science is used in war, the savagery of war threatens to lead the combatants to barbarities far surpassing those of former ages.”
“For this reason, in the name of human dignity and international law, I reiterate to those in positions of responsibility the frequent warning of Pope Francis: ‘War is always a defeat!’” the pontiff said, quoting his predecessor.
Finally, he also recalled the words of Pope Pius XII, who reiterated that “nothing is lost in peace. Everything may be lost in war.”
Pope Leo XIV’s remarks come a day after Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Authorities have confirmed 23 fatalities, and the Ukrainian Air Force claims to have neutralized 30 of the 58 drones launched in another attack carried out against its territory early Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire has not held in Gaza, and more than 50,000 people have died in the territory since the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas began.
The conflict has spilled onto different fronts, most recently with Israel and Iran trading attacks.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
