Pope Leo XIV urges peace and nuclear disarmament in new book foreword

The pontiff invoked Bob Dylan and others in the book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” which was published in Italian on July 21.

Pope Leo XIV has written a foreword to a new book, calling for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Originally published by Vatican News, the pontiff’s text is part of the new book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) in Italian on July 21. Edited by Alessandro Banfi, the book is a collection of Leo XIV’s addresses and reflections on peace since his election to the papacy in 2025.

The pope also invoked in his foreword American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan as well as Servants of God Dorothy Day, Floribert Bwana Chui, and Giorgio La Pira.

War is an adventure with no return

Leo began the foreword with what had been his first words as pontiff, proclaimed from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Peace be with you.” He explained the theological significance of those words, spoken by Christ after his resurrection, and decried the modern tendency for war.

“This was also the first gift the risen Christ offered to his friends and to the whole world: peace,” Leo wrote. “That gift, however, did not come ‘cheap.’”

“Today, a good 103 states are involved in some way in a war on Earth. Weapons boom and kill in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Sudan, in Myanmar, in Yemen, in Congo, and in many other situations.”

He also referred to his predecessors Pope Francis and Sts. Paul VI and John Paul II, who also called for peace and nuclear disarmament:

“Especially after the terrible consequences of the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the recourse to war is ever more an ‘adventure with no return,’ as St. John Paul II stressed.”

Invoking Bob Dylan: ‘Man-owned an’ man-handled’

In his foreword, the pope referenced American singer Bob Dylan, who criticized the manufacture of nuclear bombs during the Cold War in his 1963 song “Go Away You Bomb.”

“As singer-songwriter and poet Bob Dylan wrote, figuratively addressing the atomic bomb, in one of his poetic compositions: ‘I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned an’ man-handled,‘” Leo said.

The pope also explained that the threat of nuclear catastrophe looms large unless action is taken.

“History has already seen us come close to nuclear catastrophe.”

“A world in which machines, albeit sophisticated and faster than us, are the ones to decide to bomb defenseless people would be truly frightening,” Leo wrote.

Criticism of the U.S.-Iran war

Leo’s new foreword is emblematic of his stance on peace and nuclear disarmament, including with regard to the U.S.-Iran war.

Pope Leo and other Church officials have criticized the U.S. government under President Donald Trump for attacking Iran. In response, Trump claimed on May 4 that the pope “would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Leo denied Trump’s accusation that he supported nuclear weapons, stating to journalists at Castel Gandolfo on May 6 that “the Church has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons.”

An English edition of the book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift” will be published in the coming months.

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