Pope Leo XIV: There Is No Such Thing as a Holy War
Speaking from recovery, he sent a message to nearly 400 leaders from 53 countries marking 40 years since John Paul II’s Assisi prayer for peace.
Pope Leo XIV sent a video message on October 27 to religious leaders gathered in Assisi for the international meeting "Unarmed and Disarming Peace." The three-day gathering, which concludes today, marks the 40th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that St. John Paul II convened in the Umbrian city in 1986.
The Holy Father expressed regret at being unable to attend in person because of his recovery from surgery, and he affirmed his spiritual closeness to those present. Nearly 400 leaders from 53 countries took part.
Only Peace Is Holy
In his message, Pope Leo XIV stressed that "there is no such thing as a holy war: only peace is holy." He said that fighting in the name of religion attacks religion itself. The words renew his consistent call for dialogue and peace amid global conflicts.
The Pope thanked the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and Sant'Egidio for continuing the path of his predecessors. Their collaboration has sustained the Assisi meetings as a place where believers of many faiths pray and work for peace without renouncing the truth of their own traditions.
Four Decades After John Paul II
The 1986 World Day of Prayer for Peace, called by St. John Paul II, brought religious leaders to Assisi to implore from God the gift of peace. That gesture opened a way the Church has walked ever since: encounter, prayer, and a shared refusal to let religion be used as a banner for violence.
Under the theme "Unarmed and Disarming Peace," this year’s meeting extends that witness. By sending his message from convalescence rather than withdrawing his spiritual presence, Pope Leo XIV placed himself within that continuity.
His insistence that only peace is holy rejects any attempt to sacralize warfare and recalls the Church’s firm teaching: authentic faith never blesses the killing of the innocent or the instrumentalization of God’s name for combat. In a time of wars and tensions, the Assisi anniversary thus becomes a summons addressed to religious leaders and to the nations — to choose dialogue over hatred, and holiness over the false sacredness of arms.