Pope Leo decries world’s ‘zeal for war’ in fiery Vatican speech
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Pope Leo, the first US pope, said the weakness of international organisations in the face of global conflicts was “a particular cause for concern”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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VATICAN CITY - Pope Leo decried the use of military force as a means of achieving diplomatic goals, in an unusually fiery annual foreign policy speech on Jan 9 in which he also called for human rights to be protected in Venezuela.
Pope Leo, the first US pope, said the weakness of international organisations in the face of global conflicts was “a particular cause for concern”.
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force,” Pope Leo told some 184 ambassadors to the Vatican.
“War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” said Pope Leo, who was elected pope in May 2025.
Referring to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
He said nations must “safeguard the human and civil rights” of Venezuelans.
Pope Leo’s comments were part of an address that is sometimes called the pope’s “state of the world” speech.
It was the first given by Pope Leo, who was elected following the death of Pope Francis
Both the US and Venezuelan ambassadors to the Holy See were among those present for the event.
Pope Leo, formerly the US Cardinal Robert Prevost, served as a missionary in Peru for decades before becoming pope.
He has previously criticised some of Mr Trump’s policies, in particular on immigration, but did not mention the US president by name in Jan 9’s speech.
Pope Leo had shown a more muted, diplomatic tone in the first eight months of his papacy compared to his predecessor Pope Francis, who often grabbed headlines with off-the-cuff comments.
Pope Leo uses a more fiery tone
But in Jan 9’s 43-minute address, Pope Leo used a more fiery tone – firmly condemning the world’s ongoing conflicts, but also blasting the practices of abortion, euthanasia and surrogate births.
In unusually firm language for a pontiff, Pope Leo also warned that freedom of expression is “rapidly shrinking” in Western countries.
“A new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fuelling it,” he said.
The pope also criticised what he called “a subtle form of religious discrimination” suffered by Christians in Europe and across the Americas. REUTERS
