Pope Leo XIV urges peace in the skies, thanking ITA Airways and calling for an end to planes being used as tools of war and destruction.
Newsroom (23/03/2026 Gaudium Press )In a heartfelt appeal linking technology, travel, and faith, Pope Leo XIV has called on the world to ensure that airplanes remain symbols of connection and peace rather than tools of warfare and destruction.
Just twenty days before embarking on his Apostolic Journey to four African nations, the Pope met with executives and staff from ITA Airways, Italy’s national carrier, and its partner, the Lufthansa Group, at the Vatican. The gathering served as both a gesture of gratitude and a moment of moral reflection on the purpose of flight in a world still scarred by conflict.
The Pope began by thanking ITA Airways and its predecessor, Alitalia, for decades of faithful service to the papacy, beginning with Pope St. Paul VI. He praised the airline’s “qualified and experienced professionals” who, he said, have consistently created a “serene atmosphere” for the pontiff, his entourage, and the journalists accompanying him. These flights, he added, often feel imbued with a “family atmosphere, where respect is joined with devotion.”
“Meeting you gives me the opportunity to express my personal appreciation and gratitude, and that of the Holy See, for this precious service,” Pope Leo XIV said to the delegation.
For the Pope, papal flights are more than a matter of transport—they are a living metaphor for the Church’s global mission. “Each journey,” he emphasized, “is a bridge of dialogue, encounter, and fraternity.” These missions, he noted, reflect the broader vocation of the Successor of Peter: to be a messenger of peace in a divided world.
Yet, against this hopeful vision, Pope Leo voiced deep concern over the darker side of aviation history. “Airplanes should always be carriers of peace, never of war!” he declared, lamenting how aircraft—born from human ingenuity—have so often been used in “theaters of war to bring destruction and fear.”
Recalling the tragedies of the World Wars and later conflicts, the Pope decried the persistence of aerial bombings as a weapon of terror. “After the tragic experiences of the twentieth century,” he said with emphasis, “aerial bombings should have been banned forever! Instead, they still exist, and technological development, positive in itself, is being placed at the service of war. This is not progress; it is regression.”
His words carried both historical weight and contemporary urgency, evoking the moral responsibility of states and industries in shaping how technology serves humanity.
Concluding his remarks, Pope Leo XIV returned to the people before him—pilots, technicians, and staff whose daily work quietly sustains his mission. “In our current scenario,” he said, “it becomes even more important to trace routes of peace in the skies. And I thank you because, in the mission the Lord has entrusted to me, I know I can count on you.”
With that blessing, Pope Leo XIV reframed the role of aviation itself—not merely as a means of transport or commerce, but as a pathway to peace, a vision of the skies aligned with the gospel he carries across continents.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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