VATICAN CITY, Rome — In reference to the prevalence of conflict across the world with pockets of war in several countries and even violence caused by domestic squabbles, Pope Leo XIV has cited the elusiveness of peace which brings sorrow and despair and allows evil to triumph over goodness.

In his continuing call for the end of all wars, the pope noted that peace is one of the great issues of our time and is both a gift and a commitment—a gift from God built by men and women throughout the ages.
“We live in a world wounded by too many conflicts and struck by bloody hostilities. Bitter nationalism tramples on the rights of the weakest. Even before it is crushed on the battlefield, peace is defeated in the human heart when we give in to selfishness and greed and when we allow partisan interests to prevail instead of looking to the common good,” Leo pointed out.

Accordingly, the Holy Father underscored that depersonalizing others is the first step in any war: “Many writers have said that it is when we refuse to listen to other people’s stories that we begin to deprive them of their dignity.”
“To know others, on the other hand, is a foretaste of peace. But in order to know, one must first know how to love. Saint Augustine said that 'no one can be known except through friendship' (Eighty-three Different Questions, 71),” he added.

In his book 'E Pace Sia' (Peace Be With You), the American pope enjoined the faithful: “I would like to reflect here on this dual dimension of peace, which is vertical (peace as a gift from Above) and horizontal (peace as the responsibility of each person).

Peace is a gift that God has given to men and women of every age through Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The angels announced peace on earth because God became man. He embraced humanity so deeply that with his cross he destroyed the enmity of sin.”

In reflection, Leo echoed from the writings of Saint Augustine: “We, too, shall be a source of additional glory to God in the highest when, after the resurrection of our spiritual body, we shall be lifted up in the clouds to meet Christ, on condition, of course, that we work for peace with good will while we are here on earth (Sermons 193).”

Furthermore, he stressed that peace is the gift that the Risen One gave to his disciples: “It is a peace 'injured' by the wounds of the crucifixion, because Jesus’ peace gushes forth from a heart that loves and lets itself be struck by the suffering of every time and place.”

“The Lord appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, as ye have heard, and saluted them, saying, ‘Peace be unto you'. This is peace indeed, and the salutation of salvation: for the very word salutation has received its name from salvation (Saint Augustine, Sermons, 116).”

However, Leo emphasized that peace is also a commitment and responsibility for each one of us: “Peace means teaching children to respect others and not to bully others when they play. Peace means overcoming our personal pride and making room for the other, in our family, at work, in sports. Peace is when our heart and our life are inhabited by silence, meditation and listening to God; because God never blesses violence, he never approves of taking advantage of others, or of the frenzied abuse of the one Earth that is disfiguring Creation, a caress of the Creator.”

He expressed empathy over what most people experience regarding conflict and violence: “We may feel powerless before the many wars being fought around the world. We can respond in various ways to what I called the ‘globalization of powerlessness’: believers can, first and foremost, give voice to prayer. Prayer is an 'unarmed' force that that seeks only the common good, without exclusions. By praying, we disarm our ego and become capable of gratuitousness and sincerity.

“Our heart is the most important battlefield. It is there that we must learn the bloodless but necessary victory over the impulses of death and the tendencies toward domination: only peaceful hearts can build a world of peace. We must practice a culture of reconciliation, by creating non-violent workshops, places where suspicion of others can become an opportunity for encounter. The heart is the source of peace: there we must learn to meet rather than clash with each other, to trust and not of mistrust, to listen and understand instead of closing ourselves to others.”

Finally, Leo asserted that politics and the international community are responsible for facilitating the mediation of conflicts, utilizing the arts of dialogue and diplomacy.