Pope Leo XIV is urging the world to reject the belief that nuclear weapons can preserve peace, instead calling for disarmament, personal conversion, and renewed hope rooted in the Gospel.
According to Vatican News, the Vatican Publishing House has released a new book by Pope Leo XIV titled Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift. The collection gathers the Holy Father’s addresses and reflections on peace delivered since his election on May 8, 2025, and includes a previously unpublished introductory reflection dated June 19, 2026.
In that reflection, Pope Leo begins by recalling Christ’s first words after the Resurrection.
“‘Peace be with you’ was the Risen Jesus’ first greeting to his apostles,” the Pope writes, adding that peace was “the first gift the risen Christ offered to his friends and to the whole world.”
He explains that Christ’s victory over violence came not through force, but through sacrificial love.
“Disarmed and disarming, Jesus Christ endured injustice, and he rose,” Pope Leo writes.
Reflecting on today’s world, the Holy Father notes that armed conflicts continue across multiple regions while military stockpiles continue to grow. According to Vatican News, he points to wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and elsewhere as evidence that humanity continues to struggle under widespread violence.
Rather than placing responsibility solely on governments, Pope Leo says the work of peace begins within every individual.
“Peace is a responsibility,” he writes.
The Pope explains that when people respond to conflict with judgment, accusation, or condemnation, hatred inevitably grows. Instead, he encourages Christians to begin building peace through everyday acts of charity within families, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities.
“Peace is built with small daily gestures: the gift of a smile, an injury pardoned, a kind word,” he writes.
Pope Leo also challenges the assumption that military strength guarantees security.
“It is not atomic weapons that generate peace, but disarmament,” he writes, warning that renewed global rearmament has reversed decades of nuclear de-escalation.
He adds that advances in technology combined with expanding military capabilities raise profound moral questions about humanity’s future.
According to Vatican News, Pope Leo also highlights examples of individuals whose courage helped preserve peace, including Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov, whose decision in 1983 not to report a false missile warning may have prevented a catastrophic nuclear conflict. The Pope writes that “the conscience of a single person can be worth the entire world.”
Despite ongoing wars, Pope Leo concludes with a message of Christian hope.
“If there is one thing the world is seeking today, I believe it to be a message of peace for the future,” he writes.
Entrusting humanity to God’s guidance, the Holy Father calls on believers and all people of goodwill to reject violence and embrace peace as a lifelong mission.
“May believers and people of good will never stop working as builders of peace,” Pope Leo writes. “May every person make peace his or her life’s cause.”
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