Pope Francis has written a letter to the editor-in-chief of Corriere della Sera Luciana Fontana, calling on the world to disarm.
Written in response to Fontana’s message of support during the Pope’s illness, the Holy Father encourages Fontana to continue his appeal for peace and disarmament.
Pope Francis writes:
“We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth. There is a great need for reflection, calmness, and an awareness of complexity.”
The Pope’s words echo Called to be Peacemakers, a document from the International Affairs department of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that presents a Catholic approach to arms control and disarmament.
Dear Director Fontana,
I wish to thank you for the words of closeness with which you have expressed your presence in this moment of illness, in which, as I have already said, war appears even more absurd. Human fragility has the power to make us more lucid about what endures and what passes, what brings life and what kills. Perhaps for this reason, we so often tend to deny limits and avoid fragile and wounded people: they have the power to question the direction we have chosen, both as individuals and as a community.
I would like to encourage you and all those who dedicate their work and intelligence to informing, through communication tools that now connect our world in real time, to feel the full importance of words. They are never just words: they are facts that shape human environments. They can connect or divide, serve the truth or use it for other ends. We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth. There is a great need for reflection, calmness, and an awareness of complexity.
While war only devastates communities and the environment, without offering solutions to conflicts, diplomacy and international organizations are in need of new vitality and credibility. Religions, moreover, can draw from the spirituality of peoples to rekindle the desire for fraternity and justice, the hope for peace.
All this requires commitment, work, silence, and words. Let us feel united in this effort, which heavenly Grace will continue to inspire and accompany.
Francis
Rome, Policlinico Gemelli, 14 March 2025
Called to be Peacemakers is a document of the International Affairs department of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that presents a Catholic approach to arms control and disarmament.
It argues that if Catholics are to take up the call to stand as peacemakers in our troubled world, an integral part of this mission involves working to limit the proliferation of weapons and to advance the cause of global disarmament.
The document stresses that every human life lost to violence and conflict is a tragedy for our universal family. It examines three main areas:
The Church’s call for nuclear disarmament
We have a particular responsibility to respond to Pope Francis’ call to counter the logic of fear with the ethic of responsibility, to foster a climate of trust and dialogue.
The Church’s call for General and Complete Disarmament
This does not mean the removal of literally all weaponry and defence capabilities. Rather, it is eliminating weapons of mass destruction, regulating conventional arms, lowering military spending, and strengthening mechanisms for peace.
The Church’s call to put emerging technology at the service of humanity
Until a binding treaty ensuring human supervision of lethal autonomous weapons systems is negotiated, the Church supports enforcing a moratorium on the development and use of such weapons.
You can read/download the document here.
