Pope Leo XIV after the tragedy in Kyiv: The Heart of the Church Is Torn by the Cries from Ukraine
Warning that the “atrocity” of modern scientific weapons risks leading combatants “to barbarism far greater than in the past,” Pope Leo XIV reminds world leaders that “war is always a defeat” and “nothing is lost with peace; everything can be lost with war.”
“The heart of the Church is rent asunder,” Pope Leo lamented on Wednesday, “by the cries rising up from places of war,” especially Ukraine, Iran, Israel, and Gaza.
Speaking at the weekly General Audience, the Holy Father insisted, “We must never become accustomed to war” but instead “reject as a temptation the allure of powerful and sophisticated weapons.”
Russian airstrikes on civilian targets in Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks, with at least 18 people killed and 151 wounded in overnight drone and missile strikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were among the most horrific since the full-scale invasion of his country by Russia in February 2022.
Noting that the attack on Kyiv was the deadliest so far this year, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine warned of the dangers of using such weapons in major cities.
Appealing directly to world leaders, Pope Leo echoed his predecessor, Pope Francis, who had so often declared, “War is always a defeat!”
He also recalled the words of Pope Pius XII, who led the Church during the Second World War: “Nothing is lost with peace. Everything can be lost with war.”
www.vaticannews.va
