Reiterating the cries of his predecessors, Pope Leo this June 18 insisted that war is never the answer.
"The Church is brokenhearted at the cry of pain rising from places devastated by war, especially Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza," the Pope said at the end of the general audience in St. Peter's Square. "We must never get used to war!"
As the conflict with Iran and Israel continues to escalate, the Holy Father urged resisting the temptation to armament.
"Indeed, the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected," he said.
The Pope quoted the Second Vatican Council to point out how technology has made war even worse in modern times:
Today, when “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” (SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 79).
"For this reason," Leo said, "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! And that of Pope Pius XII: 'Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war.'”
Pius XII said that in a radio message of August 24, 1939, a week before the entry of Hitler's German troops into Poland.
A world at war
The now head-on war between Israel and Iran has been shaking up global geopolitics for the past five days, raising fears of a general conflagration in the Middle East. The human toll of the bombings on June 17 stood at 224 dead and nearly 3,000 wounded on the Iranian side and 24 dead and nearly 600 wounded in Israel. The growing possibility of the United States entering the war threatens to give this conflict a worldwide dimension.
Meanwhile, the security and health situation continues to worsen in the Gaza Strip, with rare food distributions being accompanied by armed clashes. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, at least 50 people were killed and 200 others injured on June 17 during a food aid distribution in the city of Khan Younis.
The war in Ukraine, somewhat overshadowed on international screens, is also intensifying. On June 17, Russian strikes on residential neighborhoods in the capital, Kyiv, left at least 24 dead and 134 injured.
The presence of an American citizen among the victims prompted a reaction from the US ambassador to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the situation in various African conflicts continues to be dire. Particularly the food shortage in Sudan is causing growing alarm.
