As he departed Villa Barberini on July 22, after more than two weeks of quiet rest and prayer at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo made time for a few brief words with journalists waiting outside. “We must lay down arms,” he said plainly, urging a stop to the global arms trade and a renewed insistence on the dignity of every human person.
The Holy Father returned to the Vatican shortly before 9 p.m., warmly greeting well-wishers who had gathered to see him off.
As reported by Tiziana Campisi for Vatican News, the Pope addressed questions on current global conflicts, including the situation in Gaza.
While acknowledging his personal desire to make a papal visit to places marked by suffering, he noted that physical presence alone “is not necessarily the formula for finding an answer.”
Instead, he emphasized the Church’s enduring moral voice. “We must encourage everyone to abandon weapons,” he said. “Abandon also the commerce behind every war. So often, with the trafficking of arms, people become mere instruments without value.”
We must insist again and again,” Pope Leo said, “on the dignity of every human being — Christian, Muslim, people of every religion. We are all children of God, created in His image.
It was a clear call for disarmament as a political gesture, and also as a moral imperative rooted in the sacredness of every life. “We must insist again and again,” Pope Leo said, “on the dignity of every human being — Christian, Muslim, people of every religion. We are all children of God, created in His image.”
This message — both urgent and timeless — echoes the Church’s teaching that human dignity is not contingent on creed or nationality. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms, “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God” (CCC 1700).
Church's voice still resonates
Speaking of his time at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope shared that it had been a time of peaceful work and careful attention to world events. “I was able to change the air a little,” he joked, but added that he remained closely engaged with world events, even speaking with heads of state. “Thanks be to God, the voice of the Church is still important,” he said. “We continue to try to promote peace.”
As highlighted by Campisi’s report for Vatican News, the Pope’s stay at Villa Barberini was not without public moments. Among them, he presided over three Masses, including a special liturgy in the “Borgo Laudato Si’” garden focused on care for creation.
There, he called attention to what the document describes as the “cry of the earth” and the “cry of the poor” — an ecological and spiritual crisis that calls for both reflection and action.
In Tuesday's brief encounter with the press, Pope Leo reminded the world that even amid war and division, the Church continues to speak — not with power, but with moral clarity. “We are all children of God,” he said again. A sentence both simple and radical, in a world that still too often forgets it.
