No to violence, no to war, no to arms: Pope Francis calls for a culture of peace
- Sixty years after St. John XXIII published the encyclical Pacem in Terris, Francis renews his message and denounces that “war is madness, it is beyond reason.”
- The Pope Video for April is an appeal to build a culture of peace, which should resort “less and less to the use of arms,” because “a lasting peace can exist only without weapons.”
- Francis asks to “make non-violence a guide for our actions, both in daily life and in international relations.”
Text pf Pope’s Message
Living, speaking, and acting without violence is not surrendering, losing or giving up anything, but aspiring to everything. As Saint John XXIII said 60 years ago in his Encyclical Pacem in Terris, war is madness. It’s beyond reason. Any war, any armed confrontation, always ends in defeat for all.
Let us develop a culture of peace. Let us remember that, even in cases of self-defense, peace is the ultimate goal, and that a lasting peace can exist only without weapons.
Let us make non-violence a guide for our actions, both in daily life and in international relations. And let us pray for a more widespread culture of non-violence, that will progress when countries and citizens alike resort less and less to the use of arms.
Pope Francis – April 2023