Pope Leo XIV pleaded with readers of a new anthology of his writings on peace to become peacemakers in their spheres of influence.
“Above all, peace is a responsibility,” Pope Leo wrote in a newly published text at the beginning of Disarmata e disarmante: La pace è un dono, which was released today by the Vatican Publishing House. “If our first instinct when we encounter a problem, experience tension or are insulted is to judge others, accuse and even condemn them, then, inevitably, first indifference and then hatred will grow around us.”
Pope Leo emphasized that “peace is built with truth,” “peace seeks witnesses,” and “peace requires hope,” as he cited St. Augustine, Pope Pius XI, and Pope Francis. The Pontiff also warned that “it is not atomic weapons that generate peace, but disarmament.”
“This truth, which seemed clear in past decades when we witnessed a nuclear de-escalation, has been obscured by a race to armament that today frightens and terrifies,” he said. “Must the human species continue to inhabit the Earth? The combination of the cyber domain and global rearmament impels one to seriously ask this question.”
The anthology, edited by Alessandro Banfi, will be published in English as Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift.